IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $198.52, but opened at $216.66. IQVIA shares last traded at $208.6820, with a volume of 156,821 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on IQV shares. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $185.00 target price on shares of IQVIA in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of IQVIA from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of IQVIA from $230.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of IQVIA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Finally, HSBC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of IQVIA in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.71.

IQVIA Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $188.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.38. The firm has a market cap of $34.75 billion, a PE ratio of 25.80, a PEG ratio of 1.86 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 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 return on equity of 30.50% and a net margin of 8.33%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.70 earnings per share. IQVIA has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.650-12.950 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that IQVIA Holdings Inc. will post 11.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

IQVIA announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 7th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to buy up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in IQVIA in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in IQVIA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Gilpin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in IQVIA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. CrossGen Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of IQVIA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of IQVIA by 590.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 138 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. 89.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.