ICON Public Limited (NASDAQ:ICLR) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

ICON Public Limited (NASDAQ:ICLR) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,240,000 shares, a decrease of 15.2% from the August 15th total of 2,640,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 676,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days. Approximately 2.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

ICON Public Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:ICLR traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $263.26. 373,002 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 614,414. ICON Public has a one year low of $171.43 and a one year high of $268.07. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $253.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $228.47. The company has a market cap of $21.63 billion, a PE ratio of 42.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

ICON Public (NASDAQ:ICLR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The medical research company reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.04. ICON Public had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 6.45%. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. Equities analysts predict that ICON Public will post 12.07 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ICLR shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of ICON Public from $280.00 to $300.00 in a report on Friday, July 14th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on ICON Public in a research report on Wednesday, September 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $306.00 price target for the company. Mizuho reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $274.00 target price on shares of ICON Public in a report on Wednesday, September 13th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of ICON Public in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on ICON Public from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $269.22.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ICON Public

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ICLR. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in ICON Public by 102.7% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department raised its position in ICON Public by 2.4% in the second quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 110,747 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,709,000 after acquiring an additional 2,605 shares during the period. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of ICON Public by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,505 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $627,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in ICON Public by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 26,948 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376 shares during the period. Finally, KB Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in ICON Public by 3.6% during the second quarter. KB Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,562 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $641,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.21% of the company’s stock.

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.