Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Invests $284,000 in IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,443 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of IQVIA during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of IQVIA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in IQVIA in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its position in IQVIA by 55.2% during the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 239 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of IQVIA during the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. 89.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on IQV. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on IQVIA from $195.00 to $161.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on IQVIA from $273.00 to $261.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Hsbc Global Res cut IQVIA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of IQVIA from $263.00 to $216.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of IQVIA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, IQVIA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.71.

IQVIA Stock Performance

Shares of IQV opened at $153.39 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $189.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. IQVIA Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $135.97 and a 52 week high of $252.88. The stock has a market cap of $27.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.45, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.34.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The medical research company reported $2.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. IQVIA had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 28.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.54 EPS. On average, analysts expect that IQVIA Holdings Inc. will post 10.84 EPS for the current year.

IQVIA Company Profile

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.