IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) Shares Bought by Citigroup Inc.

Key Points

• Citigroup Inc. significantly increased its stake in IQVIA Holdings Inc. by acquiring 291,890 shares, raising its ownership to 415,420 shares, which is approximately 0.24% of the company valued at $73.2 million.
• IQVIA reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.81, exceeding analyst expectations of $2.77, with revenues reaching $4.02 billion, up 5.3% from the previous year.
• Institutional investors now hold 89.62% of IQVIA's stock, indicating strong institutional interest and confidence in the company’s growth potential.

Citigroup Inc. increased its position in shares of IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV - Free Report) by 236.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 415,420 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 291,890 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.24% of IQVIA worth $73,239,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of IQVIA by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,803 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of IQVIA by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,477 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of IQVIA by 66.1% in the 1st quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 191 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Nemes Rush Group LLC raised its stake in shares of IQVIA by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 621 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of IQVIA by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 1,812 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.62% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on IQV. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of IQVIA from $185.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of IQVIA from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of IQVIA from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of IQVIA in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of IQVIA in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $228.62.

Insider Transactions at IQVIA

In other IQVIA news, insider Keriann Cherofsky sold 549 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.53, for a total transaction of $105,149.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,910 shares of the company's stock, valued at $557,352.30. The trade was a 15.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric Sherbet sold 5,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.05, for a total transaction of $1,102,290.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,178 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,165,178.90. The trade was a 17.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

IQVIA Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE IQV traded up $4.17 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $190.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,564,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,002,472. IQVIA Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $134.65 and a 1-year high of $252.88. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $167.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $168.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $32.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.30.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.04. IQVIA had a net margin of 7.88% and a return on equity of 30.05%. The business had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.64 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that IQVIA Holdings Inc. will post 10.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

IQVIA Profile

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.