Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Sells 236,028 Shares of IQVIA Holdings Inc. $IQV

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. decreased its stake in IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) by 93.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 15,700 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 236,028 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in IQVIA were worth $3,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of IQVIA by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,650,532 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,429,426,000 after acquiring an additional 159,899 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of IQVIA by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,597,572 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $683,323,000 after acquiring an additional 41,643 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners bought a new position in shares of IQVIA in the 3rd quarter valued at about $676,698,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of IQVIA by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,433,957 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $652,246,000 after acquiring an additional 161,085 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of IQVIA by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,773,984 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $526,891,000 after acquiring an additional 367,204 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.62% of the company’s stock.

IQVIA Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:IQV opened at $168.28 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $169.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $197.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a market capitalization of $28.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.18. IQVIA Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $134.65 and a 52-week high of $247.04.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical research company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.10 billion. IQVIA had a net margin of 8.33% and a return on equity of 30.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.70 earnings per share. IQVIA has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.650-12.950 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that IQVIA Holdings Inc. will post 11.57 earnings per share for the current year.

IQVIA announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the medical research company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of IQVIA in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $221.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets set a $250.00 target price on shares of IQVIA in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of IQVIA from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Barclays upgraded shares of IQVIA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $225.00 target price on shares of IQVIA in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.69.

About IQVIA

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.