Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Grows Position in Icon Plc $ICLR

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC boosted its position in Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) by 10.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 599,176 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 56,180 shares during the quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC owned 0.74% of Icon worth $66,305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Icon by 26.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,637,137 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $811,499,000 after purchasing an additional 975,268 shares during the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd lifted its position in shares of Icon by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 4,214,661 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $767,996,000 after purchasing an additional 75,843 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Icon by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,756,896 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $684,582,000 after purchasing an additional 329,266 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Icon by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,993,336 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $545,410,000 after purchasing an additional 239,808 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harris Associates L P grew its stake in shares of Icon by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 2,510,166 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $457,402,000 after purchasing an additional 167,607 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.61% of the company’s stock.

Icon Price Performance

ICLR stock opened at $173.06 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $135.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.87. Icon Plc has a 12 month low of $66.57 and a 12 month high of $211.00. The company has a market cap of $13.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. Icon had a net margin of 5.35% and a return on equity of 8.73%. Icon’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.43 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Icon Plc will post 9.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on ICLR shares. DA Davidson set a $164.00 price target on Icon in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Icon in a report on Friday, May 29th. Bank of America raised their target price on Icon from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Truist Financial upgraded Icon from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $159.00 to $207.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Icon from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $173.19.

About Icon

Icon plc (NASDAQ: ICLR) is a global provider of outsourced drug development and clinical research services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries. The company partners with clients at all stages of the product life cycle, offering expertise in protocol design, trial execution and regulatory compliance across a broad range of therapeutic areas.

Icon’s service portfolio encompasses clinical trial management, data management and biostatistics, medical imaging, pharmacovigilance and safety monitoring, laboratory sciences and specialized analytical solutions.