AtonRa Partners Reduces Holdings in IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV)

AtonRa Partners cut its stake in IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,160 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 240 shares during the period. AtonRa Partners’ holdings in IQVIA were worth $500,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of IQV. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of IQVIA in the 4th quarter valued at $13,759,000. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of IQVIA by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 178,690 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $41,345,000 after purchasing an additional 7,050 shares during the last quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC purchased a new stake in IQVIA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,106,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in IQVIA by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 94,748 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $18,641,000 after buying an additional 15,913 shares during the period. Finally, Duality Advisers LP purchased a new position in IQVIA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $491,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.62% of the company’s stock.

IQVIA Price Performance

Shares of IQV stock traded up $0.60 on Monday, reaching $235.48. 740,092 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 967,241. The company has a market cap of $42.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.50. IQVIA Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $167.42 and a 1 year high of $261.73. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $245.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $223.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The medical research company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.80 billion. IQVIA had a return on equity of 29.32% and a net margin of 9.06%. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.54 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that IQVIA Holdings Inc. will post 10.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at IQVIA

In related news, insider Kevin C. Knightly sold 8,607 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.17, for a total transaction of $2,153,213.19. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,251 shares in the company, valued at $1,313,642.67. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other IQVIA news, insider Ari Bousbib sold 31,678 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.53, for a total value of $7,936,289.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 796,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,610,278.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kevin C. Knightly sold 8,607 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.17, for a total transaction of $2,153,213.19. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,313,642.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,285 shares of company stock worth $10,331,003. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of IQVIA from $286.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Guggenheim cut IQVIA from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com raised IQVIA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on IQVIA from $255.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of IQVIA in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $256.80.

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.