Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in IQVIA Holdings Inc. $IQV

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) by 8.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,225,851 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 93,779 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in IQVIA were worth $209,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. increased its holdings in IQVIA by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. now owns 1,814 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC lifted its holdings in IQVIA by 5.1% during the first quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 1,196 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in IQVIA by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,792 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,080,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of IQVIA by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 2,931 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $661,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of IQVIA by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,122 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,163,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IQV has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down from $225.00) on shares of IQVIA in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $240.00 target price on shares of IQVIA in a report on Thursday. HSBC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of IQVIA in a research report on Monday. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective on shares of IQVIA in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of IQVIA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, IQVIA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.82.

IQVIA Trading Up 2.6%

IQVIA stock opened at $209.18 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $180.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $188.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. IQVIA Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $154.50 and a one year high of $247.04. The stock has a market cap of $34.91 billion, a PE ratio of 25.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.20.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical research company reported $2.90 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.70 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. IQVIA has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.650-12.950 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that IQVIA Holdings Inc. will post 11.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

IQVIA declared that its board has initiated a share buyback 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 buy up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is 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.