Icon Plc $ICLR Stock Purchased by Aberdeen Group plc

Aberdeen Group plc boosted its holdings in shares of Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) by 6.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 421,165 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,803 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Icon were worth $71,594,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Icon by 257.8% in the 2nd quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,199,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $208,383,000 after purchasing an additional 864,300 shares during the period. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT bought a new position in shares of Icon in the 1st quarter worth $69,379,000. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 327,314 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Icon by 50.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 788,828 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $87,262,000 after purchasing an additional 265,858 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor bought a new stake in Icon in the second quarter valued at about $33,807,000. Institutional investors own 95.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Icon

In other news, Director Ronan Murphy sold 5,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $875,875.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $673,225. This trade represents a 56.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Barry Balfe sold 5,175 shares of Icon stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.66, for a total value of $1,069,465.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 9,291 shares in the company, valued at $1,920,078.06. This trade represents a 35.77% 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 23,916 shares of company stock valued at $4,512,452. Insiders own 44.00% of the company’s stock.

Icon Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of ICLR stock traded down $5.86 on Friday, hitting $194.65. The stock had a trading volume of 966,542 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,245,134. Icon Plc has a twelve month low of $66.57 and a twelve month high of $219.04. The firm has a market cap of $14.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.50, a PEG ratio of 11.11 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $179.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $147.43.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The medical research company reported $2.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.01 billion. Icon had a return on equity of 7.73% and a net margin of 5.45%. The firm’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.31 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Icon Plc will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ICLR shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Icon from $175.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. William Blair upgraded Icon to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $254.00 target price on shares of Icon in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Bank of America raised Icon from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Icon in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $213.76.

Icon Profile

ICON plc is a global contract research organization (CRO) that provides outsourced development services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and government organizations. Its work supports the development of medicines and other healthcare products from early research through clinical trials and regulatory submission. The company’s services include clinical trial design and management, data management and biostatistics, regulatory support, laboratory services, medical imaging and patient recruitment.