Icon Plc $ICLR Shares Acquired by Quartz Partners LLC

Key Points

• Quartz Partners LLC increased its stake in Icon Plc by 47% in the first quarter, buying 8,516 more shares and bringing its total holding to 26,620 shares worth about $2.95 million.
• Icon reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $2.50 versus estimates of $2.43 and revenue of $2.03 billion versus expectations of $1.98 billion.
• Analyst sentiment has improved, with RBC and BMO Capital Markets raising their ratings and price targets; the stock now has an average analyst target of $173.19.

Quartz Partners LLC grew its holdings in Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR - Free Report) by 47.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,620 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,516 shares during the quarter. Quartz Partners LLC's holdings in Icon were worth $2,946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Icon by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,080,192 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $203,800,000 after purchasing an additional 11,335 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Icon in the 4th quarter valued at about $123,542,000. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP boosted its stake in shares of Icon by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 1,072,428 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $195,418,000 after buying an additional 201,455 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Icon during the fourth quarter worth about $4,829,000. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Icon during the fourth quarter worth about $2,960,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.61% of the company's stock.

Icon Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ICLR opened at $170.00 on Friday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $145.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.02 billion, a PE ratio of 30.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.45 and a beta of 1.22. Icon Plc has a fifty-two week low of $66.57 and a fifty-two week high of $211.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.07. Icon had a return on equity of 8.73% and a net margin of 5.35%.The firm had revenue of $2.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.43 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Icon Plc will post 9.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ICLR. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Icon from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $126.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, June 25th. UBS Group set a $160.00 price target on shares of Icon in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Icon from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Icon from $160.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Icon from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $173.19.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ICLR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.