Cullen Investment Group LTD. Makes New Investment in ICON Public Limited (NASDAQ:ICLR)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. bought a new stake in ICON Public Limited (NASDAQ:ICLR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,724 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $1,620,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ICLR. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP raised its position in ICON Public by 108.4% in the third quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 89,860 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $22,129,000 after purchasing an additional 46,739 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS grew its stake in shares of ICON Public by 17.5% in the third quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 49,660 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $12,229,000 after acquiring an additional 7,385 shares in the last quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of ICON Public in the fourth quarter worth $794,000. State of Tennessee Treasury Department grew its stake in shares of ICON Public by 2.4% in the second quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 110,747 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $27,709,000 after acquiring an additional 2,605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of ICON Public during the first quarter worth $513,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on ICLR. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of ICON Public from $325.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of ICON Public from $345.00 to $362.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of ICON Public from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Mizuho restated a "buy" rating and set a $346.00 target price on shares of ICON Public in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of ICON Public from $295.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $319.45.

ICON Public Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of ICLR stock traded down $6.88 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $299.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 384,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 544,217. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $314.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $279.38. ICON Public Limited has a 12-month low of $181.92 and a 12-month high of $344.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.68 billion, a PE ratio of 41.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.15.

ICON Public (NASDAQ:ICLR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The medical research company reported $3.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.13. ICON Public had a net margin of 7.54% and a return on equity of 11.42%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. On average, research analysts predict that ICON Public Limited will post 14.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ICON Public 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.