Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Takes $185,000 Position in IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 801 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $185,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of IQVIA by 19.1% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,942,761 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,335,754,000 after purchasing an additional 952,850 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in IQVIA by 2.2% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,804,161 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $754,864,000 after buying an additional 81,501 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in IQVIA by 2.9% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,889,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $568,460,000 after buying an additional 80,189 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in IQVIA by 3.4% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,325,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $457,483,000 after buying an additional 77,422 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in IQVIA by 1,852.5% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,066,764 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $423,466,000 after buying an additional 1,960,914 shares during the last quarter. 89.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IQV has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of IQVIA in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Guggenheim cut shares of IQVIA from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of IQVIA in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $285.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of IQVIA from $286.00 to $297.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of IQVIA from $226.00 to $251.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, IQVIA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $256.80.

IQVIA Price Performance

NYSE IQV traded up $0.92 during trading on Friday, hitting $228.09. 776,957 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 688,892. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The company has a market cap of $41.40 billion, a PE ratio of 31.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.50. IQVIA Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $167.42 and a fifty-two week high of $261.73. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $244.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $221.65.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The medical research company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.80 billion. IQVIA had a return on equity of 29.32% and a net margin of 9.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.54 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that IQVIA Holdings Inc. will post 10.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Kevin C. Knightly sold 8,607 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.17, for a total value of $2,153,213.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,313,642.67. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other IQVIA news, insider Kevin C. Knightly sold 8,607 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.17, for a total transaction of $2,153,213.19. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,313,642.67. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ari Bousbib sold 31,678 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.53, for a total transaction of $7,936,289.34. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 796,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,610,278.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,285 shares of company stock valued at $10,331,003 over the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

IQVIA Company Profile

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.