Icon Plc $ICLR Stock Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 505,249 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 93,949 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.66% of Icon worth $85,888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Icon by 257.8% during 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. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT purchased a new stake in shares of Icon in the first quarter worth approximately $69,379,000. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP raised its holdings in shares of Icon by 27.1% in the second quarter. Trinity Street Asset Management LLP now owns 1,535,462 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $266,725,000 after buying an additional 327,314 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Icon by 50.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 788,828 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $87,262,000 after buying an additional 265,858 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor bought a new stake in shares of Icon during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,807,000. 95.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Icon Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of Icon stock traded down $5.86 on Friday, hitting $194.65. 966,542 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,245,134. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $179.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Icon Plc has a 52 week low of $66.57 and a 52 week high of $219.04. The company 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.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The medical research company reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.62 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. Icon had a return on equity of 7.73% and a net margin of 5.45%. Icon’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.31 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Icon Plc will post 9.71 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ronan Murphy sold 5,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $875,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $673,225. This represents a 56.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ciaran Murray sold 3,452 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.66, for a total transaction of $709,938.32. Following the transaction, the director owned 17,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,496,220. The trade was a 16.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,916 shares of company stock worth $4,512,452. 44.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ICLR. Zacks Research upgraded Icon from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Icon from $210.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Deutsche Bank reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Icon in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Icon from $185.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Icon from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Icon currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $213.76.

Icon Profile

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.