Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Sells 6,667 Shares of IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lowered its stake in shares of IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) by 11.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 50,806 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 6,667 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in IQVIA were worth $11,755,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of IQV. Norges Bank bought a new position in IQVIA during the 4th quarter valued at about $408,232,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in IQVIA by 1,852.5% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,066,764 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $423,466,000 after acquiring an additional 1,960,914 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in IQVIA by 19.1% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,942,761 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,335,754,000 after acquiring an additional 952,850 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new position in IQVIA during the 3rd quarter valued at about $148,096,000. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of IQVIA in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $102,982,000. Institutional investors own 89.62% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at IQVIA

In other IQVIA news, insider Eric Sherbet sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.50, for a total transaction of $241,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 20,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,031,894. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Eric Sherbet sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.50, for a total value of $241,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,031,894. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ari Bousbib sold 31,678 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.53, for a total transaction of $7,936,289.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 796,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $199,610,278.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,285 shares of company stock valued at $10,331,003 in the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

IQVIA Price Performance

IQV traded up $0.92 during trading on Friday, reaching $228.09. 776,957 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 688,892. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. IQVIA Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $167.42 and a 12-month high of $261.73. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $244.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $221.87. The company has a market cap of $41.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.29, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.50.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The medical research company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.02. IQVIA had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 29.32%. The business had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.80 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.54 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that IQVIA Holdings Inc. will post 10.11 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of IQVIA from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Guggenheim cut shares of IQVIA from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of IQVIA from $286.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Leerink Partnrs reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of IQVIA in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, SVB Leerink assumed coverage on shares of IQVIA in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 price objective on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $256.80.

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.