IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on IQV. HSBC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of IQVIA in a research report on Monday, July 6th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on IQVIA from $233.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of IQVIA from $252.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of IQVIA from $220.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of IQVIA from $225.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $241.88.

IQVIA Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of IQVIA stock opened at $261.29 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $43.01 billion, a PE ratio of 32.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $224.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $190.15. IQVIA has a 1 year low of $154.50 and a 1 year high of $265.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The medical research company reported $3.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.03 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $4.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. IQVIA had a net margin of 8.10% and a return on equity of 30.25%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.81 earnings per share. IQVIA has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.800-13.000 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that IQVIA will post 11.57 earnings per share for the current year.

IQVIA declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 7th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the medical research company to reacquire up to 6.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bhavik Patel sold 1,855 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.27, for a total transaction of $436,425.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $317,143.96. This represents a 57.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Keriann Cherofsky sold 558 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.21, for a total value of $136,827.18. Following the transaction, the insider owned 2,989 shares in the company, valued at $732,932.69. This trade represents a 15.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,913 shares of company stock worth $3,098,793. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IQVIA

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of IQVIA by 18,735.4% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 49,241,537 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,514,450,000 after purchasing an additional 48,980,106 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of IQVIA during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,811,292,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in IQVIA by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,374,971 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $982,272,000 after buying an additional 24,453 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in IQVIA by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,087,380 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $923,276,000 after buying an additional 530,672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in IQVIA by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,799,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $856,468,000 after buying an additional 528,753 shares in the last quarter. 89.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.