River Road Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Icon Plc $ICLR

River Road Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) by 55.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 475,413 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 169,860 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Icon were worth $86,630,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Muhlenkamp & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Icon during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $12,857,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Icon by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,080,192 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $203,800,000 after buying an additional 11,335 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in Icon during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,074,000. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in Icon during the fourth quarter worth approximately $123,542,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Icon by 35.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,753,528 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $481,692,000 after buying an additional 719,301 shares during the period. 95.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Icon Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ICLR opened at $146.00 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $124.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $11.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.70, a PEG ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 1.26. Icon Plc has a 1-year low of $66.57 and a 1-year high of $211.00.

Icon (NASDAQ:ICLR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 17th. The medical research company reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.05. Icon had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 5.98%.The business had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Icon Plc will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ICLR shares. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Icon to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. DA Davidson set a $164.00 price target on shares of Icon in a research report on Monday, June 1st. 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. Barclays increased their price target on Icon from $120.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Icon from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $156.44.

Icon Profile

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.