Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest jumped 42.8% to 2,896,513 shares as of March 31, representing 6.4% of the stock and a 3.1 days-to-cover based on average daily volume.
• Institutional ownership is very high at 95.61%, with several hedge funds and smaller firms recently establishing or increasing positions in Icon.
• Analyst consensus is "Hold" with an average price target of $148.80 (seven Buys, seven Holds, three Sells); the stock has traded near $113 and ranges from $66.57 to $211.00 over the past 12 months.

Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,896,513 shares, a growth of 42.8% from the March 15th total of 2,029,053 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 938,420 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days. Currently, 6.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Icon

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in Icon by 200.0% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 141 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp bought a new position in Icon during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. EFG International AG bought a new position in Icon during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in Icon during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in Icon during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. 95.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Icon Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ ICLR traded up $2.69 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $113.06. The company had a trading volume of 899,387 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,718,111. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $109.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $155.23. 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 company has a market capitalization of $9.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.30, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.28. Icon has a 12-month low of $66.57 and a 12-month high of $211.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on ICLR shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Icon from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Mizuho set a $216.00 target price on shares of Icon in a report on Friday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Icon from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $130.00 in a report on Thursday, March 26th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Icon from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $183.00 to $120.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Icon in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $148.80.

Icon Company 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.

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.