Marathon Asset Management Ltd Acquires 21,614 Shares of IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV)

Marathon Asset Management Ltd grew its holdings in IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV - Free Report) by 14.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 171,407 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 21,614 shares during the period. Marathon Asset Management Ltd owned 0.10% of IQVIA worth $30,218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of IQVIA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $336,041,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of IQVIA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $236,120,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of IQVIA by 396.0% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,134,737 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $222,987,000 after purchasing an additional 905,960 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of IQVIA by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,590,260 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $509,012,000 after purchasing an additional 902,226 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of IQVIA by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,282,024 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $841,461,000 after purchasing an additional 712,958 shares during the period. 89.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on IQV shares. UBS Group lowered their target price on IQVIA from $255.00 to $185.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays lowered their price objective on IQVIA from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on IQVIA from $195.00 to $161.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on IQVIA from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on IQVIA from $263.00 to $216.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $226.32.

IQVIA Price Performance

Shares of NYSE IQV traded down $0.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $157.53. 2,309,431 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,644,207. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.19, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. IQVIA Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $134.65 and a twelve month high of $252.88. The company has a market cap of $27.25 billion, a PE ratio of 15.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.35.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The medical research company reported $2.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.77 billion. IQVIA had a return on equity of 29.16% and a net margin of 8.61%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.54 EPS. As a group, equities research 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.