Brokerages Set IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) Target Price at $222.00

Shares of IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $223.8750.

IQV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut IQVIA from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on IQVIA from $230.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $200.00 target price (down from $225.00) on shares of IQVIA in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. HSBC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of IQVIA in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of IQVIA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th.

IQVIA Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:IQV opened at $208.43 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $178.78 and a 200 day moving average of $188.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The stock has a market cap of $34.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.20. IQVIA has a 12 month low of $154.50 and a 12 month high of $247.04.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical research company reported $2.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. IQVIA had a net margin of 8.33% and a return on equity of 30.50%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.70 EPS. IQVIA has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.650-12.950 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that IQVIA will post 11.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

IQVIA declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to reacquire up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IQVIA

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of IQV. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in IQVIA in the third quarter worth $3,383,000. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG grew its position in IQVIA by 174.3% during the 4th quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 12,827 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,891,000 after acquiring an additional 8,151 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in IQVIA by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 55,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $12,585,000 after purchasing an additional 10,762 shares during the period. HF Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in IQVIA by 1,791.6% in the fourth quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 154,618 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $34,852,000 after purchasing an additional 146,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Calamos Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of IQVIA by 268.1% during the fourth quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 188,707 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $42,536,000 after purchasing an additional 137,441 shares during the period. 89.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About IQVIA

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.