Royal Bank of Canada Boosts Stake in Icon Plc $ICLR

Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) by 68.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 153,728 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,225 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Icon were worth $17,011,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ICLR. Harris Associates L P purchased a new stake in Icon in the second quarter worth about $238,256,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Icon by 555.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,496,479 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $272,688,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268,095 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Icon by 26.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,637,137 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $811,499,000 after acquiring an additional 975,268 shares during the period. Lyrical Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Icon in the 4th quarter worth approximately $176,382,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Icon in the 4th quarter worth approximately $160,073,000. Institutional investors own 95.61% of the company’s stock.

Icon Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Icon stock opened at $161.17 on Friday. Icon Plc has a twelve month low of $66.57 and a twelve month high of $203.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $159.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.65. The firm has a market cap of $12.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.83, a PEG ratio of 6.80 and a beta of 1.21.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last posted its 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. Icon had a return on equity of 8.02% and a net margin of 3.99%.The company had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Icon Plc will post 9.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Icon from $164.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Icon from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. William Blair upgraded shares of Icon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Icon in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Icon from $160.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $170.40.

About Icon

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.