IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) Earns Outperform Rating from Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

Research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) in a report issued on Wednesday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 10.57% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of IQVIA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $266.00 to $242.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of IQVIA from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of IQVIA from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of IQVIA in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $270.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of IQVIA from $235.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, IQVIA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $266.25.

IQVIA Price Performance

Shares of IQV opened at $248.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $45.34 billion, a PE ratio of 33.98, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $232.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $234.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. IQVIA has a twelve month low of $167.42 and a twelve month high of $261.73.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.64 earnings per share 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 net margin of 9.39% and a return on equity of 28.59%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that IQVIA will post 10.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other IQVIA news, insider Eric Sherbet sold 1,300 shares of IQVIA stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.33, for a total transaction of $320,229.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,536 shares in the company, valued at $4,812,302.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IQVIA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IQV. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of IQVIA in the 4th quarter valued at $383,705,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in IQVIA by 339.6% during 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 buying an additional 1,597,003 shares in the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC lifted its position in IQVIA by 96.9% during 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 buying an additional 606,333 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in IQVIA by 42.2% during 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 buying an additional 592,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in IQVIA by 472.3% during 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 buying an additional 376,595 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.62% of the company’s stock.

About IQVIA

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.