Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd. Takes Position in Icon Plc $ICLR

Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd. bought a new stake in Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 69,624 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,021,000. Icon comprises 3.4% of Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd. owned about 0.09% of Icon as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in Icon during the 4th quarter valued at $123,542,000. Calamos Advisors LLC bought a new position in Icon during the fourth quarter worth $4,829,000. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Icon in the fourth quarter valued at $2,960,000. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Icon by 29.7% in the fourth quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 260,449 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $47,459,000 after purchasing an additional 59,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position 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 valued at $26,917,000 after purchasing an additional 10,609 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ICLR shares. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Icon from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Icon in a report on Friday, May 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Icon from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $126.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Robert W. Baird set a $194.00 price objective on Icon in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Icon from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $170.40.

Icon Stock Performance

Shares of Icon stock opened at $163.15 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $162.50 and a 200-day moving average of $133.87. Icon Plc has a 52-week low of $66.57 and a 52-week high of $203.91. The stock has a market cap of $12.49 billion, a PE ratio of 38.30, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 1.21.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last released 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 business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2 billion. Icon had a net margin of 3.99% and a return on equity of 8.02%. Icon’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.26 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Icon Plc will post 9.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Icon

In other news, Director Anne Clem Whitaker sold 841 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.29, for a total transaction of $138,167.89. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $146,382.39. This trade represents a 48.56% 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 this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Ciaran Murray sold 2,677 shares of Icon stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.29, for a total transaction of $439,804.33. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,360,059.08. The trade was a 11.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,531 shares of company stock valued at $1,565,764. 44.00% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.