American Century Companies Inc. Cuts Holdings in Icon Plc $ICLR

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its stake in Icon Plc (NASDAQ:ICLR) by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 427,345 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 104,050 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.53% of Icon worth $74,786,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ICLR. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Icon by 55.2% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 69,893 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $10,166,000 after acquiring an additional 24,850 shares during the last quarter. Fullcircle Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Icon during the second quarter worth $246,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Icon in the second quarter valued at $61,000. Equity Investment Corp acquired a new stake in Icon in the second quarter valued at $82,264,000. Finally, Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Icon in the second quarter valued at $299,000. 95.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Icon Stock Performance

Shares of ICLR opened at $108.70 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $156.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.35. The firm has a market cap of $8.78 billion, a PE ratio of 14.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.35. Icon Plc has a 12-month low of $66.57 and a 12-month high of $211.00. 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 analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Icon from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Icon in a report on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen raised shares of Icon from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $183.00 to $120.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Robert W. Baird set a $119.00 price objective on shares of Icon in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Leerink Partners restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Icon in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Icon presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.47.

Icon Company 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.