Norges Bank Takes $160.07 Million Position in Icon Plc $ICLR

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 878,462 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $160,073,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Icon by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,932 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $899,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Icon by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 541 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Icon by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Icon by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 643 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, 1900 Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Icon by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,430 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. 95.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Icon Stock Up 4.8%

Shares of Icon stock opened at $144.12 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $115.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $140.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Icon Plc has a twelve month low of $66.57 and a twelve month high of $211.00. The stock has a market cap of $11.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.72 and a beta of 1.26.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 3rd. The medical research company reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by ($0.68). Icon had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 5.98%.The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.43 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Icon Plc will post 11.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ICLR. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Icon from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $100.00 price target on shares of Icon and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Icon in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Icon in a research report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Icon from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $156.44.

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.