Medpace Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MEDP) Receives $406.60 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Key Points

• Medpace Holdings, Inc. has received an average broker rating of "Reduce", with three analysts recommending to sell, nine to hold, and two to buy the stock.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings exceeded consensus estimates, reporting $3.10 EPS against an expected $3.00, with revenue of $603.31 million for the quarter.
• Insider transactions reveal significant selling activity, with VP Susan E. Burwig and CFO Kevin M. Brady respectively selling 7,500 and 12,000 shares recently, indicating a potential shift in confidence among executives.

Medpace Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MEDP - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" by the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $406.60.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MEDP. Cowen lowered shares of Medpace from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group lowered shares of Medpace from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and raised their price target for the company from $300.00 to $305.00 in a report on Tuesday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Medpace from $300.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. William Blair reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Medpace in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Medpace from $270.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd.

Medpace Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of MEDP stock traded down $4.11 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $423.09. 517,813 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 464,163. The firm has a market cap of $11.88 billion, a PE ratio of 31.46, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.47. Medpace has a 1 year low of $250.05 and a 1 year high of $501.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $330.95 and a 200 day moving average of $323.49.

Medpace (NASDAQ:MEDP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The company reported $3.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $603.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $537.70 million. Medpace had a net margin of 18.74% and a return on equity of 67.66%. The firm's revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.75 EPS. Analysts expect that Medpace will post 12.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Medpace news, CEO August J. Troendle sold 48,487 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.69, for a total value of $21,901,093.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 962,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $434,803,569.35. This trade represents a 4.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Jesse J. Geiger sold 41,801 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.11, for a total value of $18,940,451.11. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 36,503 shares in the company, valued at $16,539,874.33. The trade was a 53.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 112,788 shares of company stock valued at $51,018,354 in the last three months. 20.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Medpace

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Medpace by 9.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,186,768 shares of the company's stock valued at $361,596,000 after buying an additional 102,015 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in Medpace by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 936,842 shares of the company's stock worth $311,247,000 after acquiring an additional 28,161 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Medpace during the first quarter worth about $212,131,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Medpace by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 656,130 shares of the company's stock worth $218,031,000 after acquiring an additional 28,076 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Medpace by 1.1% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 582,269 shares of the company's stock worth $177,411,000 after acquiring an additional 6,225 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.98% of the company's stock.

About Medpace

Medpace Holdings, Inc engages in the provision of outsourced clinical development services to the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device industries. Its services include medical department, clinical trial management, data-driven feasibility, study-start-up, clinical monitoring, regulatory affairs, patient recruitment and retention, medical writing, biometrics and data sciences, pharmacovigilance, core laboratory, laboratories, clinics, and quality assurance.