VELA Investment Management LLC Has $2.19 Million Stock Holdings in Icon Plc $ICLR

Key Points

• VELA Investment Management increased its Icon holdings by 531.4% in the second quarter, owning 12,590 shares valued at approximately $2.19 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 95.61% of Icon.
• Icon exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $2.56 in EPS versus the $2.55 consensus and revenue of $2.06 billion, up 2.3% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $170.40, while Icon shares recently opened at $164.85. Several directors sold shares to cover tax obligations related to vested equity awards.

VELA Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR - Free Report) by 531.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,590 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 10,596 shares during the quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC's holdings in Icon were worth $2,187,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Icon by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 541 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Icon by 21.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 391 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in shares of Icon by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 23,942 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $4,363,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Icon by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 1,146 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Icon by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,309 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. 95.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Icon Price Performance

NASDAQ ICLR opened at $164.85 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $168.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.82. The company has a market cap of $12.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.70, a P/E/G ratio of 7.61 and a beta of 1.20. Icon Plc has a 1 year low of $66.57 and a 1 year high of $203.91.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The medical research company reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.01. The business 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 business posted $3.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Icon Plc will post 9.58 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ICLR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Icon in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Icon from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Icon from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Icon from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, UBS Group set a $160.00 target price on Icon in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $170.40.

Insider Activity

In other Icon news, Director Ciaran Murray sold 2,677 shares of Icon stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.29, for a total value of $439,804.33. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,452 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,360,059.08. The trade was a 11.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Eugene Mccague sold 841 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.29, for a total value of $138,167.89. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,811 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $626,109.19. This trade represents a 18.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 9,531 shares of company stock worth $1,565,764 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 44.00% of the company's stock.

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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