Madison Asset Management LLC Invests $128.96 Million in Medpace Holdings, Inc. $MEDP

Madison Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Medpace Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MEDP) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 243,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $128,956,000. Medpace makes up approximately 1.5% of Madison Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Medpace during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,323,047,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Medpace by 65.1% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,025,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $518,170,000 after buying an additional 404,226 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Medpace by 205.8% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 314,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $161,523,000 after acquiring an additional 211,411 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Medpace by 158.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 299,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,198,000 after acquiring an additional 183,645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Medpace during the 4th quarter valued at $102,156,000. 77.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Medpace Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of MEDP stock opened at $608.27 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $16.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.65, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $544.34 and a 200-day moving average of $491.59. Medpace Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $373.00 and a 1-year high of $677.90.

Medpace (NASDAQ:MEDP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $4.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $707.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $689.51 million. Medpace had a return on equity of 110.15% and a net margin of 17.67%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.10 earnings per share. Medpace has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.250-17.950 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Medpace Holdings, Inc. will post 17.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Cornelius P. Mccarthy III sold 1,140 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $605.37, for a total value of $690,121.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,430,916.75. This represents a 8.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO August J. Troendle sold 17,610 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $605.11, for a total transaction of $10,655,987.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 615,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $372,627,948.22. This represents a 2.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 67,195 shares of company stock worth $37,989,998 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 20.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MEDP. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Medpace from $419.00 to $492.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Medpace from $586.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Medpace from $400.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Medpace from $462.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Medpace from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $490.00 to $515.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Medpace has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $584.18.

About Medpace

Medpace Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: MEDP) is a global contract research organization (CRO) that provides comprehensive clinical development services to biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device companies. The company supports clinical trials across all phases (I–IV), offering end-to-end solutions designed to streamline the development process and accelerate the delivery of new therapies to market.

Medpace’s core service offerings include clinical pharmacology, regulatory affairs consulting, project management, central laboratory services, imaging, data management and biostatistics, pharmacovigilance and medical writing.