Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 3,119 Shares of IQVIA Holdings Inc. $IQV

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 184,439 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 3,119 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in IQVIA were worth $35,032,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in IQVIA by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,555,929 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $560,379,000 after buying an additional 19,573 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of IQVIA during the second quarter worth approximately $515,772,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of IQVIA by 22.8% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,126,171 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $492,659,000 after purchasing an additional 581,157 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in IQVIA by 12.3% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,314,219 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $421,257,000 after purchasing an additional 253,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cantillon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in IQVIA by 27.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,926,934 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $366,002,000 after purchasing an additional 413,256 shares during the period. 89.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on IQV shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on IQVIA from $234.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of IQVIA in a report on Thursday, November 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho set a $266.00 price target on shares of IQVIA in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of IQVIA from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of IQVIA in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $248.88.

IQVIA Stock Down 10.8%

IQVIA stock opened at $180.62 on Friday. IQVIA Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $134.65 and a 1-year high of $247.04. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $228.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $209.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.37.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The medical research company reported $3.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.02. IQVIA had a return on equity of 30.70% and a net margin of 8.07%.The business had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.12 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. IQVIA has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.550-12.850 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that IQVIA Holdings Inc. will post 10.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Key IQVIA News

Here are the key news stories impacting IQVIA this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat consensus — EPS of $3.42 and revenue of $4.36B, with double‑digit year‑over‑year sales growth and strong segment performance. These beats confirm demand improvement from pharma clients. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Company provided FY‑2026 guidance (EPS 12.55–12.85; revenue ~$17.2–17.4B) that includes revenue growth expectations above some street estimates — this supports top‑line momentum if execution continues. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market takeaways from the quarter are mixed: strong near‑term results but mixed messaging on margins and expense drivers; investors are parsing detail in the call and slides. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Management flagged higher interest costs that push 2026 profit expectations below some Street forecasts — this hit the stock because financing costs directly compress EPS despite revenue strength. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Headline guidance/adjusted‑earnings outlook was viewed as a miss by some investors and commentators, prompting downside pressure immediately after results. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts are questioning how quickly IQVIA’s AI initiatives will translate into meaningful revenue or margin gains, increasing near‑term uncertainty around growth assumptions. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Some firms are trimming ratings amid sector headwinds and the mixed outlook, further pressuring sentiment. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Market commentary summarizing these factors is driving intraday selling and positioning adjustments. Read More.

About IQVIA

IQVIA (NYSE: IQV) is a global provider of advanced analytics, technology solutions and contract research services to the life sciences industry. The company combines clinical research capabilities with large-scale health data and analytics to support drug development, regulatory reporting, commercial strategy and real‑world evidence generation. IQVIA traces its current form to the combination of Quintiles and IMS Health announced in 2016 and subsequently rebranded as IQVIA, bringing together long-established clinical research operations and extensive healthcare information assets.

IQVIA’s principal activities include outsourced clinical development services (acting as a contract research organization for phases I–IV), real‑world evidence and observational research, regulatory and safety services, and a suite of technology platforms that enable data integration, analytics and operational management.