26,803 Icon Plc $ICLR Shares Bought by Aberdeen Group plc

Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in shares of Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) by 6.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 421,165 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,803 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.55% of Icon worth $71,594,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Icon by 257.8% in the second quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,199,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $208,383,000 after buying an additional 864,300 shares during the period. Polianta Ltd acquired a new stake in Icon during the second quarter worth about $1,876,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Icon by 68.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 153,728 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $17,011,000 after acquiring an additional 62,225 shares during the period. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP increased its stake in Icon by 27.1% during the second quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 1,535,462 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $266,725,000 after acquiring an additional 327,314 shares during the period. Finally, VELA Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Icon by 511.4% during the second quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 12,192 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,118,000 after acquiring an additional 10,198 shares during the period. 95.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Barry Balfe sold 5,175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.66, for a total transaction of $1,069,465.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 9,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,920,078.06. This represents a 35.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CAO Emer Lyons sold 264 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.66, for a total value of $54,558.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 1,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,505.22. This represents a 17.83% decrease in their position. 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 23,916 shares of company stock worth $4,512,452. 44.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Icon Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ICLR traded down $5.86 during trading on Friday, reaching $194.65. The company had a trading volume of 966,542 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,245,134. Icon Plc has a 52 week low of $66.57 and a 52 week high of $219.04. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $179.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.43. The stock has a market cap of $14.90 billion, a PE ratio of 33.50, a PEG ratio of 11.11 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32.

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. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.01 billion. Icon had a net margin of 5.45% and a return on equity of 7.73%. Icon’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.31 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Icon Plc will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Icon from $175.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $254.00 target price on shares of Icon in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Icon in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Barclays raised their target price on Icon from $175.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Icon from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 9th. One investment 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Icon has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $213.76.

About Icon

ICON plc is a global contract research organization (CRO) that provides outsourced development services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and government organizations. Its work supports the development of medicines and other healthcare products from early research through clinical trials and regulatory submission. The company’s services include clinical trial design and management, data management and biostatistics, regulatory support, laboratory services, medical imaging and patient recruitment.