Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. Acquires 864,300 Shares of Icon Plc $ICLR

Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) by 257.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,199,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 864,300 shares during the quarter. Icon comprises about 4.1% of Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. owned approximately 1.57% of Icon worth $208,383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. North Star Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Icon in the second quarter worth $900,000. American Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Icon in the second quarter worth about $490,000. Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Icon in the second quarter worth about $12,021,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor bought a new stake in shares of Icon during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,807,000. Finally, Trinity Street Asset Management LLP increased its holdings in shares of Icon by 27.1% during the 2nd quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 1,535,462 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $266,725,000 after acquiring an additional 327,314 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.61% of the company’s stock.

Icon Stock Performance

ICLR opened at $164.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.04 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $167.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Icon Plc has a 12-month low of $66.57 and a 12-month high of $203.91.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The medical research company reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2 billion. Icon had a return on equity of 8.02% and a net margin of 3.99%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.26 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Icon Plc will post 9.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ICLR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Icon in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. William Blair upgraded Icon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Icon in a research report on Friday, May 29th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Icon from $164.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Leerink Partners set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Icon in a report on Thursday, May 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Icon currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $170.40.

Insider Transactions at Icon

In other news, Director Ronan Martin Murphy sold 841 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.29, for a total transaction of $138,167.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $632,023.63. This represents a 17.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Anne Clem Whitaker sold 841 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.29, for a total transaction of $138,167.89. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $146,382.39. The trade was a 48.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,531 shares of company stock worth $1,565,764. 44.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.