Icon Plc $ICLR Shares Newly Bought by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,360 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $571,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Icon by 21.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 391 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Icon by 30.0% in the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 866 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Icon by 120.0% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 616 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp boosted its stake in shares of Icon by 35.0% during the 1st quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 1,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $171,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Icon by 17.0% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,760 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. 95.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ICLR shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Icon from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Icon from $195.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Icon in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $254.00 target price on shares of Icon in a research report on Thursday. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of Icon to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.53.

Key Stories Impacting Icon

Here are the key news stories impacting Icon this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raise targets: TD Cowen lifted its price target from $197 to $254 and upgraded Icon to “buy,” implying approximately 17.9% upside from the referenced share price. Robert W. Baird raised its target from $210 to $249 and assigned an “outperform” rating, implying about 15.6% upside. TD Cowen analyst action Robert W. Baird analyst action
• Positive Sentiment: Strong bookings support future growth: Icon reported record net bookings of approximately $3.15 billion and indicated it expects mid-single-digit revenue growth in 2027, offering investors greater visibility into future demand. ICON 2027 revenue outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Capital returns expanded: Icon completed a $2.15 billion note issuance and redeemed 2.36 million shares during the third quarter. The company also announced expanded buybacks, which may support per-share results and signal management confidence. ICON debt issuance and share redemption
• Positive Sentiment: Guidance was raised: Despite softer quarterly results, Icon increased its 2026 outlook, providing a positive near-term catalyst for the stock. ICON third-quarter results and guidance
• Neutral Sentiment: Debt restructuring: Icon restructured debt while expanding buybacks and extending option plans. The financing supports capital allocation but increases the importance of managing leverage and interest costs. ICON debt restructuring announcement
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly fundamentals were mixed: Third-quarter non-GAAP earnings and revenue declined year over year, although results exceeded expectations. The earnings decline and lower revenue remain risks if they persist. ICON third-quarter earnings release
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation concerns: One analysis argued that ICLR could be roughly 15% overvalued following its record wins and buyback announcement, creating downside risk after the stock’s strong advance toward its 52-week high. ICON valuation analysis

Insider Activity at Icon

In other news, Director Ciaran Murray sold 2,677 shares of Icon stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.29, for a total value of $439,804.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,360,059.08. The trade was a 11.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CAO Emer Lyons sold 272 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.37, for a total transaction of $49,604.64. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $180,546.30. This represents a 21.55% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 23,068 shares of company stock valued at $3,936,744 in the last ninety days. 44.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Icon Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ICLR opened at $215.48 on Friday. Icon Plc has a twelve month low of $66.57 and a twelve month high of $219.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $16.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.65 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $171.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $146.36.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The medical research company reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.62 by $0.04. Icon had a return on equity of 7.73% and a net margin of 5.45%. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.31 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Icon Plc will post 9.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Icon 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.