IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) Shares Cross Above 50-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV)’s stock price passed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $266.55 and traded as high as $273.46. IQVIA shares last traded at $271.4550, with a volume of 1,398,376 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on IQV. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of IQVIA from $220.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of IQVIA from $288.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of IQVIA in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $345.00 price objective on the stock. William Blair raised shares of IQVIA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Leerink Partners boosted their target price on shares of IQVIA from $280.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $294.21.

IQVIA Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $266.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $211.03. The stock has a market cap of $44.74 billion, a PE ratio of 32.98, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The medical research company reported $3.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.37 billion. IQVIA had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.00 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that IQVIA Holdings Inc. will post 11.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider James G. Berkshire sold 2,668 shares of IQVIA stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.33, for a total transaction of $697,228.44. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 10,890 shares in the company, valued at $2,845,883.70. This trade represents a 19.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IQVIA

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Korea Investment CORP acquired a new position in IQVIA during the second quarter worth $13,918,000. Congress Asset Management Co. purchased a new stake in IQVIA during the third quarter worth $24,560,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in IQVIA during the second quarter worth $143,074,000. National Pension Service grew its holdings in IQVIA by 6.6% in the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 375,973 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $72,646,000 after purchasing an additional 23,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in IQVIA in the second quarter valued at $2,811,292,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.62% of the company’s stock.

IQVIA Company Profile

IQVIA Holdings Inc provides clinical research services, healthcare data and analytics, and technology solutions to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical-device, and other healthcare organizations. Its services support the development and commercialization of medicines and other healthcare products.

The company’s offerings include clinical trial planning and management, real-world data and evidence, consulting, and software and technology platforms for life sciences research and commercial operations.