Baird Financial Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Icon Plc $ICLR

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. significantly reduced its stake in Icon Plc by 89%, selling 164,334 shares during the first quarter and holding a value of approximately $3.55 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Icon Plc reported earnings of $3.26 per share for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and generating a revenue of $2.02 billion, although it represents a 4.8% decline compared to the same quarter last year.
• Various analysts have upgraded their ratings for Icon Plc, with UBS raising its price target to $240.00 and maintaining a "buy" rating, reflecting optimism about the company's future performance.

Baird Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR - Free Report) by 89.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,271 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 164,334 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Icon were worth $3,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Icon during the first quarter valued at $28,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Icon during the first quarter valued at $59,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. purchased a new stake in Icon during the first quarter valued at $69,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Icon during the first quarter valued at $101,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Icon by 22.8% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 593 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.61% of the company's stock.

Icon Trading Up 1.7%

ICLR stock traded up $2.93 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $177.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,168,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 940,750. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $166.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $158.16. Icon Plc has a 1 year low of $125.10 and a 1 year high of $310.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.29, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.20.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.08. Icon had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 9.82%.The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.75 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Icon has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.000-14.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Icon Plc will post 13.38 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ICLR shares. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Icon from $173.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Icon from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Icon from $170.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down from $225.00) on shares of Icon in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Icon from $187.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $219.64.

Icon Profile

ICON Public Limited Company, a clinical research organization, provides outsourced development and commercialization services in Ireland, rest of Europe, the United States, and internationally. The company specializes in the strategic development, management, and analysis of programs that support various stages of the clinical development process from compound selection to Phase I-IV clinical studies.