Linda Grais Sells 841 Shares of Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) Stock

Key Points

• Director Linda Grais sold 841 Icon shares for approximately $138,168, reducing her stake by 12.01% to 6,162 shares. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations tied to vested equity awards.
• Icon shares rose 1.0% to $167.17, while the company’s latest quarterly results slightly exceeded expectations with adjusted EPS of $2.56 and revenue of $2.06 billion, up 2.3% year over year.
• Institutional investors own 95.61% of Icon, and analyst sentiment is mixed: the stock has a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $170.40, despite several recent upgrades and higher targets.

Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR - Get Free Report) Director Linda Grais 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 sale, the director owned 6,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,012,354.98. This represents a 12.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Icon Stock Up 1.0%

ICLR traded up $1.59 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $167.17. 804,300 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,385,099. The stock has a market cap of $12.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.88 and a beta of 1.21. Icon Plc has a twelve month low of $66.57 and a twelve month high of $203.91. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $161.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The medical research company reported $2.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.01. Icon had a net margin of 3.99% and a return on equity of 8.02%. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.26 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Icon Plc will post 9.57 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Icon

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings 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 worth $811,499,000 after acquiring an additional 975,268 shares during the period. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd increased its stake in shares of Icon by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 4,214,661 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $767,996,000 after purchasing an additional 75,843 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Icon by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,756,896 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $684,582,000 after purchasing an additional 329,266 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Icon by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,311,771 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $366,481,000 after purchasing an additional 310,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Icon by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,993,336 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $545,410,000 after purchasing an additional 239,808 shares during the period. 95.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Icon from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $126.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Icon from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Icon from $160.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Icon from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Leerink Partners set a $145.00 price target on Icon in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $170.40.

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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