Jefferies Financial Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Medpace (NASDAQ:MEDP) Stock

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group raised the price target for Medpace from $400 to $450, indicating a potential downside of 8.55% from its previous close while maintaining a "hold" rating on the stock.
• Medpace reported a 14.2% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, with earnings per share of $3.10, beating analyst estimates of $3.00.
• Insider selling has been significant, with the General Counsel and CFO both reducing their stock holdings by over 22% and 66% respectively in recent transactions.

Medpace (NASDAQ:MEDP - Free Report) had its price objective lifted by Jefferies Financial Group from $400.00 to $450.00 in a research report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on MEDP. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Medpace from $270.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. William Blair reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Medpace in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on Medpace from $300.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Cowen cut Medpace from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Medpace from $298.00 to $436.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Medpace currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $422.27.

Medpace Trading Down 1.4%

MEDP traded down $6.95 on Tuesday, reaching $490.64. The stock had a trading volume of 371,974 shares, compared to its average volume of 443,311. Medpace has a fifty-two week low of $250.05 and a fifty-two week high of $501.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $429.46 and a 200-day moving average of $349.20. The company has a market capitalization of $13.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.44.

Medpace (NASDAQ:MEDP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The company reported $3.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.10. Medpace had a return on equity of 67.66% and a net margin of 18.74%.The business had revenue of $603.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $537.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.75 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Medpace has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.760-14.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Medpace will post 12.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel Stephen P. Ewald sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.00, for a total value of $1,350,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 10,343 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,654,350. This represents a 22.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevin M. Brady sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.23, for a total value of $5,450,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,725,380. The trade was a 66.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 161,266 shares of company stock valued at $74,111,427. Corporate insiders own 20.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Medpace

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Medpace by 9.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,186,768 shares of the company's stock worth $361,596,000 after purchasing an additional 102,015 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in Medpace by 14.0% during the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 945,814 shares of the company's stock worth $296,853,000 after purchasing an additional 116,354 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in Medpace by 17.4% during the second quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 817,432 shares of the company's stock worth $256,559,000 after purchasing an additional 121,213 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Medpace by 15.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 621,184 shares of the company's stock worth $193,269,000 after purchasing an additional 81,637 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake 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 purchasing 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.