Pullen Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Icon Plc $ICLR

Pullen Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,336 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $907,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gibbs Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Icon in the 3rd quarter worth about $235,000. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Icon by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 18,625 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,166,000 after acquiring an additional 1,443 shares in the last quarter. Parthenon LLC lifted its position in Icon by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Parthenon LLC now owns 79,603 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,532,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the period. Net Worth Advisory Group lifted its position in Icon by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group now owns 2,814 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $455,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares during the period. Finally, Thor Investment Management Inc. OH ADV lifted its position in Icon by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Thor Investment Management Inc. OH ADV now owns 14,115 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,399,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Icon

In other Icon news, Director Ronan Murphy sold 5,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $875,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $673,225. This trade represents a 56.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John Climax sold 5,005 shares of Icon stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $875,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $365,225. This trade represents a 70.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 22,796 shares of company stock worth $3,887,139 in the last ninety days. 44.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Icon from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Icon from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Icon in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Icon from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $209.00 price target (up from $207.00) on shares of Icon in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $174.73.

Icon Stock Performance

NASDAQ ICLR opened at $185.27 on Monday. Icon Plc has a 12 month low of $66.57 and a 12 month high of $203.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $168.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.89. The stock has a market cap of $14.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.49, a P/E/G ratio of 11.98 and a beta of 1.24.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The medical research company reported $2.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2 billion. Icon had a return on equity of 8.02% and a net margin of 3.99%. Icon’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.26 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Icon Plc will post 9.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.