Icon Plc $ICLR Shares Acquired by Rice Hall James & Associates LLC

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) by 151.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,146 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,175 shares during the quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s holdings in Icon were worth $3,336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harris Associates L P acquired a new stake in Icon in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $238,256,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Icon by 555.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,496,479 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $272,688,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268,095 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Icon by 26.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,637,137 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $811,499,000 after purchasing an additional 975,268 shares in the last quarter. Lyrical Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Icon in the fourth quarter worth $176,382,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Icon in the fourth quarter worth $160,073,000. 95.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on ICLR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Icon from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Icon in a report on Friday, May 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Icon from $160.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Icon from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $126.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $164.00 price target on shares of Icon in a report on Monday, June 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $168.73.

Icon Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ICLR opened at $165.76 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.49, a PEG ratio of 8.14 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $151.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.00. Icon Plc has a 12 month low of $66.57 and a 12 month high of $203.91.

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.