Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 719,301 Shares of Icon Plc $ICLR

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) by 35.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,753,528 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 719,301 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 3.41% of Icon worth $481,692,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. CSM Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Icon during the second quarter valued at about $204,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Icon by 64.4% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,396 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $203,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Icon by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 84,370 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $12,272,000 after acquiring an additional 2,159 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Icon by 21.0% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,752,008 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $545,730,000 after acquiring an additional 650,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Icon by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,962 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,322,000 after acquiring an additional 1,743 shares in the last quarter. 95.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on ICLR shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $100.00 price objective on Icon and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Icon in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research downgraded Icon from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Leerink Partners reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Icon in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Icon from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $183.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.80.

Icon Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ICLR opened at $105.38 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s 50-day moving average is $147.59 and its 200 day moving average is $166.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. Icon Plc has a fifty-two week low of $66.57 and a fifty-two week high of $211.00.

Icon Profile

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.