Brokerages Set IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) Target Price at $243.59

IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $243.1875.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Baird R W raised IQVIA from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on IQVIA in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of IQVIA from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of IQVIA from $234.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Barclays set a $230.00 target price on shares of IQVIA in a report on Monday.

IQVIA Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:IQV opened at $220.75 on Wednesday. IQVIA has a 1-year low of $134.65 and a 1-year high of $234.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market cap of $37.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $219.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $192.18.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The medical research company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by $0.02. IQVIA had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 30.70%. The business had revenue of $4.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. IQVIA has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.850-11.950 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that IQVIA will post 10.84 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at IQVIA

In other news, insider Eric Sherbet sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.70, for a total transaction of $878,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,955,627.60. This represents a 12.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in IQVIA in the third quarter valued at $676,698,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of IQVIA in the second quarter valued at about $515,772,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in IQVIA during the second quarter worth about $270,160,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in IQVIA by 130.2% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,555,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $245,099,000 after buying an additional 879,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of IQVIA by 15,755.2% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 779,598 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $122,857,000 after acquiring an additional 774,681 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.62% of the company’s stock.

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.