Royal Bank of Canada Begins Coverage on IQVIA (NYSE:IQV)

Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) in a report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $275.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on IQV. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on IQVIA in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. They issued a buy rating and a $270.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on IQVIA from $235.00 to $251.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered IQVIA from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their target price for the company from $266.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Argus upgraded IQVIA to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on IQVIA from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $266.67.

IQVIA Stock Performance

Shares of IQVIA stock opened at $243.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $44.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. IQVIA has a 12 month low of $167.42 and a 12 month high of $261.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $234.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $234.63.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.79 billion. IQVIA had a return on equity of 28.59% and a net margin of 9.39%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that IQVIA will post 10.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at IQVIA

In related news, insider Eric Sherbet sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.33, for a total value of $320,229.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,536 shares in the company, valued at $4,812,302.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IQVIA

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of IQV. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in IQVIA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $383,705,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in IQVIA by 339.6% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,067,195 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $478,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,597,003 shares in the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC boosted its position in IQVIA by 96.9% in the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 1,231,916 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $286,704,000 after purchasing an additional 606,333 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in IQVIA by 42.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,995,269 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $461,675,000 after purchasing an additional 592,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in IQVIA by 472.3% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 456,335 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $96,487,000 after purchasing an additional 376,595 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.62% of the company’s stock.

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.