Cetera Investment Advisers Reduces Stock Holdings in IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV)

Cetera Investment Advisers decreased its holdings in shares of IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) by 12.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 64,157 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 8,761 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in IQVIA were worth $12,608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of IQVIA in the 4th quarter valued at $336,041,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in IQVIA in the fourth quarter valued at $236,120,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of IQVIA by 396.0% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,134,737 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $222,987,000 after acquiring an additional 905,960 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of IQVIA by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,590,260 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $509,012,000 after buying an additional 902,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in IQVIA by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,282,024 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $841,461,000 after acquiring an additional 712,958 shares during the last quarter. 89.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on IQV shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of IQVIA in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of IQVIA from $273.00 to $261.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of IQVIA from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group lowered their price target on IQVIA from $255.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of IQVIA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.71.

IQVIA Price Performance

IQV stock opened at $148.90 on Friday. IQVIA Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $135.97 and a 12-month high of $252.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $163.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $188.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The company has a market cap of $25.76 billion, a PE ratio of 19.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.34.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The medical research company reported $2.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. IQVIA had a return on equity of 28.81% and a net margin of 8.91%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.54 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that IQVIA Holdings Inc. will post 10.84 EPS for the current year.

About IQVIA

IQVIA Holdings Inc engages in the provision of advanced analytics, technology solutions, and clinical research services to the life sciences industry in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates through three segments: Technology & Analytics Solutions, Research & Development Solutions, and Contract Sales & Medical Solutions.