IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) Receives “Equal Weight” Rating from Morgan Stanley

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $200.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $225.00. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 11.71% from the stock’s current price.

IQV has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on IQVIA in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $221.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen raised IQVIA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. TD Cowen raised IQVIA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $174.00 to $213.00 in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Mizuho set a $215.00 target price on IQVIA in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on IQVIA from $290.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, IQVIA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $222.56.

IQVIA Price Performance

Shares of IQV stock opened at $179.04 on Wednesday. IQVIA has a 52-week low of $153.01 and a 52-week high of $247.04. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $29.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $173.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $192.69.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical research company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.70 EPS. IQVIA’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. IQVIA has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.650-12.950 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that IQVIA will post 11.6 earnings per share for the current year.

IQVIA declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the medical research company to repurchase up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IQV. Boston Partners purchased a new position in shares of IQVIA in the 3rd quarter valued at $676,698,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in IQVIA during the 4th quarter worth $497,445,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in IQVIA by 2,628.1% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,675,479 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $377,670,000 after buying an additional 1,614,063 shares during the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd grew its stake in IQVIA by 96.5% during the 4th quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 1,901,091 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $428,525,000 after buying an additional 933,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in IQVIA by 130.2% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,555,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $245,099,000 after buying an additional 879,701 shares during the last quarter. 89.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.