Ninety One North America Inc. Purchases 12,552 Shares of Icon Plc $ICLR

Key Points

• Ninety One North America Inc. raised its stake in Icon Plc by 2.8% in Q4, buying an additional 12,552 shares to hold 455,399 shares (about 0.56% of Icon) valued at $82.98 million, making Icon its eighth-largest holding.
• Several large institutions—including Wellington, Invesco, Principal, Ninety One UK and Franklin Resources—have also increased positions, leaving 95.61% of ICLR owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• Analysts are mixed (seven Buys, seven Holds, three Sells) with a MarketBeat consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $148.80, while the stock traded around $119.68 with a 12‑month range of $66.57–$211.00.

Ninety One North America Inc. raised its position in Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR - Free Report) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 455,399 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 12,552 shares during the period. Icon comprises approximately 3.4% of Ninety One North America Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Ninety One North America Inc. owned about 0.56% of Icon worth $82,983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ICLR. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Icon by 26.6% during the third 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 period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Icon by 11.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,427,630 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $599,835,000 after acquiring an additional 341,637 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Icon by 739.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,277,293 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $573,526,000 after purchasing an additional 2,886,755 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its position in Icon by 0.4% in the third quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 3,006,141 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $526,075,000 after purchasing an additional 12,489 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Icon by 35.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,753,528 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $481,692,000 after purchasing an additional 719,301 shares during the period. 95.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on ICLR. Jefferies Financial Group set a $135.00 target price on shares of Icon and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Truist Financial reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $222.00 price target (down from $231.00) on shares of Icon in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Mizuho set a $216.00 price target on shares of Icon in a research note on Friday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Icon from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $130.00 in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Icon in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $148.80.

Icon Trading Up 3.5%

ICLR opened at $119.68 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $106.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market cap of $9.67 billion, a PE ratio of 16.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.28. Icon Plc has a twelve month low of $66.57 and a twelve month high of $211.00.

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.

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