IQVIA Holdings Inc. $IQV Shares Sold by Marathon Asset Management Ltd

Marathon Asset Management Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 118,577 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 9,887 shares during the quarter. Marathon Asset Management Ltd owned approximately 0.07% of IQVIA worth $26,729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of IQVIA by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 54,691 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $12,328,000 after buying an additional 8,154 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of IQVIA by 95.9% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 258,543 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $58,278,000 after buying an additional 126,554 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of IQVIA by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 2,771 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $625,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of IQVIA by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 34,339 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,740,000 after buying an additional 2,510 shares during the period. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of IQVIA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $203,000. 89.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IQV has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on IQVIA from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $225.00 price objective on IQVIA in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Mizuho set a $215.00 price objective on IQVIA in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. TD Cowen raised IQVIA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $174.00 to $213.00 in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on IQVIA from $255.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, IQVIA presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.69.

IQVIA Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of IQV opened at $173.10 on Wednesday. IQVIA Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $134.65 and a 52-week high of $247.04. The company has a market capitalization of $28.89 billion, a PE ratio of 21.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $170.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $198.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical research company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.07. IQVIA had a return on equity of 30.50% and a net margin of 8.33%.The business had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.70 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. IQVIA has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.650-12.950 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that IQVIA Holdings Inc. will post 11.57 EPS for the current year.

IQVIA announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

IQVIA Company Profile

IQVIA (NYSE: IQV) is a global provider of advanced analytics, technology solutions and contract research services to the life sciences industry. The company combines clinical research capabilities with large-scale health data and analytics to support drug development, regulatory reporting, commercial strategy and real?world evidence generation. IQVIA traces its current form to the combination of Quintiles and IMS Health announced in 2016 and subsequently rebranded as IQVIA, bringing together long-established clinical research operations and extensive healthcare information assets.

IQVIA’s principal activities include outsourced clinical development services (acting as a contract research organization for phases I–IV), real?world evidence and observational research, regulatory and safety services, and a suite of technology platforms that enable data integration, analytics and operational management.