Amundi Boosts Holdings in Icon Plc $ICLR

Key Points

• Amundi increased its Icon stake by 88.6% in the first quarter, owning 33,583 shares valued at approximately $3.7 million. Institutional investors collectively hold 95.61% of the company’s stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Icon has an average “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $170.40, despite TD Cowen issuing a “Buy” rating and raising its target to $197.
• Icon reported quarterly EPS of $2.56, narrowly beating estimates, while revenue reached $2.06 billion—up 2.3% year over year. Shares opened at $161.17, below the 52-week high of $203.91.

Amundi raised its position in shares of Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR - Free Report) by 88.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,583 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,773 shares during the period. Amundi's holdings in Icon were worth $3,716,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harris Associates L P bought a new stake in Icon in the second quarter worth about $238,256,000. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in 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 position in Icon by 26.6% in 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 last quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Icon in the fourth quarter worth $176,382,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Icon in the fourth quarter worth $160,073,000. Institutional investors own 95.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ICLR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Icon from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Icon from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Icon from $164.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of 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 given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Icon has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $170.40.

Icon Price Performance

Shares of ICLR opened at $161.17 on Friday. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $159.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.65. Icon Plc has a fifty-two week low of $66.57 and a fifty-two week high of $203.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.34 billion, a PE ratio of 37.83, a PEG ratio of 6.80 and a beta of 1.21.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The medical research company reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.01. The company 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 was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Icon Plc will post 9.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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