Icon Plc $ICLR Shares Bought by Ninety One UK Ltd

Key Points

• Ninety One UK Ltd increased its stake in Icon Plc by 2.6%, owning approximately 3.71% of the company, which is valued at about $435.4 million.
• Icon Plc reported $3.26 earnings per share for the most recent quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $3.18, while their revenue was $2.02 billion, exceeding estimates of $1.98 billion.
• Analysts have upgraded their outlook for Icon, with several raising target prices significantly, resulting in a consensus target price of $216.67 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Ninety One UK Ltd grew its stake in Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,993,652 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 75,465 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd owned about 3.71% of Icon worth $435,427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Icon in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Icon in the first quarter valued at $59,000. Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Icon in the first quarter worth about $69,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Icon by 1,772.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 412 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Icon during the 1st quarter worth about $101,000. 95.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Icon Stock Up 7.1%

Shares of ICLR opened at $175.00 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. Icon Plc has a one year low of $125.10 and a one year high of $303.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.00, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $173.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.55.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company 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 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Icon has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.000-14.000 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Icon Plc will post 13.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Rothschild Redb upgraded Icon from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Icon from $170.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Mizuho upped their target price on Icon from $173.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Icon from $170.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Icon from $187.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Icon currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $216.67.

Icon Company 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.

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