Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) Director Ronan Martin Murphy Sells 5,005 Shares

Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) Director Ronan Murphy sold 5,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $875,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $673,225. The trade was a 56.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Ronan Martin Murphy also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, August 11th, Ronan Murphy sold 841 shares of Icon stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.29, for a total value of $138,167.89.

Icon Stock Performance

Shares of ICLR stock opened at $164.11 on Friday. Icon Plc has a 12 month low of $66.57 and a 12 month high of $203.91. The stock has a market cap of $12.57 billion, a PE ratio of 38.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.85 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $167.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $140.18.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The medical research company reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.01. Icon had a net margin of 3.99% and a return on equity of 8.02%. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Icon Plc will post 9.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ICLR. Leerink Partners set a $145.00 price target on shares of Icon in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Icon from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Icon from $160.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. William Blair raised Icon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group set a $160.00 target price on Icon in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $170.07.

Institutional Trading of Icon

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Polianta Ltd purchased a new stake in Icon during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,876,000. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Icon by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 147,715 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,917,000 after buying an additional 10,609 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Icon by 68.0% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 153,728 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $17,011,000 after buying an additional 62,225 shares in the last quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP boosted its position in shares of Icon by 27.1% during the second quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 1,535,462 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $266,725,000 after acquiring an additional 327,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Icon by 257.8% during the second quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,199,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $208,383,000 after acquiring an additional 864,300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.61% of the company’s stock.

About Icon

ICON plc is a contract research and development organization that provides services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and government clients. The company helps sponsors plan, manage and execute clinical development programs, supporting the progression of new medicines and healthcare products from early research through regulatory approval and commercialization.

Its services include clinical trial design and management, clinical data management, biostatistics, pharmacovigilance, regulatory consulting, medical affairs, laboratory services and real-world evidence.