Franklin Resources Inc. Raises Position in Icon Plc $ICLR

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) by 35.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,753,528 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 719,301 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Icon were worth $481,692,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Icon by 67.4% during the second quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 7,184,870 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,045,039,000 after purchasing an additional 2,893,946 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Icon by 21.0% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,752,008 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $545,730,000 after buying an additional 650,379 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Icon by 739.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,277,293 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $573,526,000 after buying an additional 2,886,755 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Icon by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,085,993 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $448,858,000 after buying an additional 98,032 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its position in shares of Icon by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 3,006,141 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $526,075,000 after buying an additional 12,489 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ICLR. Leerink Partners reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Icon in a report on Thursday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Icon in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird set a $119.00 target price on shares of Icon in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $222.00 target price (down from $231.00) on shares of Icon in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Icon in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.80.

Icon Stock Performance

NASDAQ ICLR opened at $105.38 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $147.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Icon Plc has a 1 year low of $66.57 and a 1 year high of $211.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.51 billion, a PE ratio of 14.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.35.

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.