Bamco Inc. NY Lowers Position in Icon Plc $ICLR

Bamco Inc. NY trimmed its holdings in shares of Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 690,623 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 13,862 shares during the quarter. Bamco Inc. NY owned about 0.86% of Icon worth $100,451,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,045,039,000 after purchasing an additional 2,893,946 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Icon by 21.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 650,379 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Icon by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,085,993 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $448,858,000 after buying an additional 98,032 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its stake in Icon by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,993,652 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $435,427,000 after buying an additional 75,465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harris Associates L P bought a new position in shares of Icon in the 2nd quarter worth $238,256,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.61% of the company’s stock.

Icon Trading Down 1.8%

NASDAQ ICLR opened at $186.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $15.07 billion, a PE ratio of 25.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.25. Icon Plc has a 1-year low of $125.10 and a 1-year high of $228.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $176.51 and a 200-day moving average of $166.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ICLR has been the subject of several research reports. Leerink Partners set a $220.00 target price on shares of Icon in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective (down from $225.00) on shares of Icon in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised Icon from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $184.00 to $236.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded Icon from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $220.00 price target on shares of Icon in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.00.

Icon Company Profile

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.