IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) Stock Price Down 5% Following Analyst Downgrade

IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV)’s stock price fell 5% during trading on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $288.00 to $279.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. IQVIA traded as low as $215.00 and last traded at $216.84. 224,873 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 1,059,862 shares. The stock had previously closed at $228.31.

IQV has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Argus raised shares of IQVIA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of IQVIA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $266.00 to $242.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of IQVIA from $275.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of IQVIA in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $275.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of IQVIA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, IQVIA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $267.27.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric Sherbet sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.33, for a total transaction of $320,229.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,536 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,812,302.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IQVIA

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IQV. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of IQVIA by 6.6% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,403,488 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $719,634,000 after buying an additional 211,653 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of IQVIA by 0.9% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,263,944 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $825,416,000 after purchasing an additional 30,014 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in IQVIA by 3.1% during the second quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,923,032 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $618,046,000 after acquiring an additional 86,870 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in IQVIA by 3.8% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,510,685 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $634,927,000 after purchasing an additional 92,293 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of IQVIA by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,138,802 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $540,882,000 after acquiring an additional 143,533 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.62% of the company’s stock.

IQVIA Stock Down 4.4 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market cap of $39.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.16, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.49. The business’s fifty day moving average is $238.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $230.92.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.79 billion. IQVIA had a net margin of 9.39% and a return on equity of 28.59%. IQVIA’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that IQVIA Holdings Inc. will post 10.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About IQVIA

IQVIA Holdings Inc engages in the provision of advanced analytics, technology solutions, and clinical research services to the life sciences industry in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates through three segments: Technology & Analytics Solutions, Research & Development Solutions, and Contract Sales & Medical Solutions.