Earnest Partners LLC Buys 15,505 Shares of IQVIA Holdings Inc. $IQV

Key Points

• Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in IQVIA Holdings Inc. by 3.6%, owning approximately 441,904 shares valued at $77.9 million after acquiring an additional 15,505 shares in the first quarter.
• IQVIA has received favorable ratings from analysts, with reports indicating a consensus target price of $228.62 and a majority rating of "Moderate Buy" from 17 analysts.
• Insiders, including Keriann Cherofsky and Eric Sherbet, sold significant shares recently, indicating a decrease in their ownership by 15.87% and 17.59%, respectively.

Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV - Free Report) by 3.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 441,904 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,505 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC owned approximately 0.26% of IQVIA worth $77,908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new position in IQVIA in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its stake in IQVIA by 436.7% in the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 161 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in IQVIA by 295.5% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 174 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in IQVIA in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its stake in IQVIA by 66.1% in the first 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 last quarter. 89.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Redburn Partners set a $188.00 target price on shares of IQVIA in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of IQVIA from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Mizuho upped their price target 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. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of IQVIA from $159.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating on shares of IQVIA in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $228.62.

Insider Activity at IQVIA

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

IQVIA Price Performance

NYSE IQV traded down $6.66 on Tuesday, hitting $184.15. The stock had a trading volume of 361,859 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,931,101. IQVIA Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $134.65 and a 52-week high of $252.69. 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 company has a market capitalization of $31.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $177.74 and a 200-day moving average of $167.49.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.64 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. IQVIA has set its FY 2025 guidance at 11.750-12.050 EPS. Equities analysts expect that IQVIA Holdings Inc. will post 10.84 EPS for the current year.

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.