Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Icon Plc $ICLR

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) by 16.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,994 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,018 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Icon were worth $6,377,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ICLR. Harris Associates L P purchased a new stake in Icon in the second quarter valued at $238,256,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Icon by 26.6% in the third 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 period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Icon in the fourth quarter valued at $160,073,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Icon by 35.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,753,528 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $481,692,000 after purchasing an additional 719,301 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners raised its position in Icon by 1,207.3% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 739,135 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $129,372,000 after purchasing an additional 682,597 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Icon from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Icon from $120.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. DA Davidson set a $164.00 price objective on Icon in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Leerink Partners set a $145.00 price objective on Icon in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Icon from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Icon currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $156.44.

Icon Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ICLR opened at $149.45 on Monday. Icon Plc has a twelve month low of $66.57 and a twelve month high of $211.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $117.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $140.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.44 billion, a PE ratio of 24.26, a PEG ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 1.26.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The medical research company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter. Icon had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 5.98%.The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter. Icon has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.000-11.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Icon Plc will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Icon Company 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.