IQVIA Holdings Inc. $IQV Stock: Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Cuts Position

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) by 4.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 80,735 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,167 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in IQVIA were worth $21,706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in IQV. Korea Investment CORP purchased a new stake in shares of IQVIA during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $13,918,000. Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of IQVIA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $24,560,000. National Pension Service increased its stake in IQVIA by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 375,973 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $72,646,000 after purchasing an additional 23,411 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in IQVIA in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $143,074,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in IQVIA during the second quarter worth $2,811,292,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.62% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at IQVIA

In related news, insider James G. Berkshire sold 2,668 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.33, for a total value of $697,228.44. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 10,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,845,883.70. This trade represents a 19.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

IQVIA Stock Performance

NYSE IQV opened at $274.73 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $267.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $211.60. IQVIA Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $154.50 and a twelve month high of $284.50. The company has a market capitalization of $45.28 billion, a PE ratio of 33.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The medical research company reported $3.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.37 billion. IQVIA had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 8.05%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.00 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that IQVIA Holdings Inc. will post 11.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on IQV shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on IQVIA from $284.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings cut IQVIA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Barclays raised their price target on IQVIA from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. William Blair raised IQVIA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of IQVIA from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, IQVIA currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $294.21.

IQVIA Profile

IQVIA Holdings Inc. provides clinical research services, healthcare data and analytics, and technology solutions to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical-device, and other healthcare organizations. Its services support the development and commercialization of medicines and other healthcare products. The company’s offerings include clinical trial planning and management, real-world data and evidence, consulting, and software and technology platforms for life sciences research and commercial operations.