Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) CEO Barry Edward Balfe Sells 5,175 Shares of Company Stock

Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) CEO Barry Balfe sold 5,175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.66, for a total value of $1,069,465.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 9,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,920,078.06. This trade represents a 35.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Barry Edward Balfe also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, August 10th, Barry Balfe sold 382 shares of Icon stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.07, for a total value of $62,674.74.

Icon Stock Performance

Shares of Icon stock traded down $1.37 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $203.77. 1,096,464 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,264,512. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $172.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.07, a P/E/G ratio of 13.65 and a beta of 1.24. Icon Plc has a one year low of $66.57 and a one year high of $219.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The medical research company reported $2.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.04. Icon had a net margin of 5.45% and a return on equity of 7.73%. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.31 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Icon Plc will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Icon

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Icon by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 5,259 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $894,000 after buying an additional 625 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its stake in Icon by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 20,762 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,529,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Icon during the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Icon during the third quarter valued at about $571,000. Finally, Pullen Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Icon in the third quarter valued at about $907,000. 95.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on ICLR shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Icon from $195.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Icon from $185.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $254.00 price objective on shares of Icon in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. William Blair upgraded Icon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Mizuho set a $228.00 price target on Icon in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $213.76.

Icon Company Profile

ICON plc is a global contract research organization that provides outsourced development services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies. The company supports clinical research programs from early development through late-stage trials, regulatory submission and post-marketing activities.

Its services include clinical trial management, medical and regulatory consulting, biostatistics, data management, pharmacovigilance, laboratory services and real-world evidence solutions.