Short Interest in ICON Public Limited (NASDAQ:ICLR) Decreases By 6.7%

ICON Public Limited (NASDAQ:ICLR) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,390,000 shares, a decrease of 6.7% from the March 15th total of 1,490,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 551,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

ICON Public Price Performance

Shares of ICLR opened at $292.02 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $316.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $280.17. ICON Public has a fifty-two week low of $181.92 and a fifty-two week high of $344.77. The stock has a market cap of $24.09 billion, a PE ratio of 39.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.15.

ICON Public (NASDAQ:ICLR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The medical research company reported $3.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.13. ICON Public had a return on equity of 11.42% and a net margin of 7.54%. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.08 billion. Analysts anticipate that ICON Public will post 14.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of ICON Public from $295.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of ICON Public from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Truist Financial upped their target price on ICON Public from $357.00 to $367.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $346.00 price objective on shares of ICON Public in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on ICON Public from $345.00 to $362.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.45.

Institutional Trading of ICON Public

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of ICON Public by 108.4% in the third quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 89,860 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $22,129,000 after buying an additional 46,739 shares in the last quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in ICON Public by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 6,953 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,712,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares during the last quarter. Sara Bay Financial increased its holdings in shares of ICON Public by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sara Bay Financial now owns 2,603 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $641,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of ICON Public by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 2,702 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $765,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ICON Public by 102.7% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. 95.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About ICON Public

ICON Public Limited Company, a clinical research organization, provides outsourced development and commercialization services in Ireland, rest of Europe, the United States, and internationally. The company specializes in the strategic development, management, and analysis of programs that support various stages of the clinical development process from compound selection to Phase I-IV clinical studies.