Castlefield Investment Partners LLP Takes $601,000 Position in IQVIA Holdings Inc. $IQV

Castlefield Investment Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 3,110 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $601,000. IQVIA makes up 0.4% of Castlefield Investment Partners LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Freedom LLC bought a new stake in IQVIA during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Ascentis Independent Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of IQVIA during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of IQVIA in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Compass Financial Management LLC bought a new position in shares of IQVIA during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Gilpin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in IQVIA in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 89.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

IQVIA Trading Up 0.1%

IQVIA stock opened at $260.17 on Monday. IQVIA Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $154.50 and a 52 week high of $260.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $213.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18. The company has a market capitalization of $42.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.18.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The medical research company reported $3.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.03 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $4.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. IQVIA had a net margin of 8.10% and a return on equity of 30.25%. IQVIA’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.81 EPS. IQVIA has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.800-13.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that IQVIA Holdings Inc. will post 11.57 EPS for the current year.

IQVIA announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 7th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the medical research company to buy up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at IQVIA

In other news, insider Eric Sherbet sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.16, for a total value of $1,245,800.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 20,999 shares in the company, valued at $5,232,110.84. This represents a 19.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider W Richard Staub sold 5,500 shares of IQVIA stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.68, for a total value of $1,279,740.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 13,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,097,436.16. This represents a 29.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 12,913 shares of company stock valued at $3,098,793 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen upped their price target on IQVIA from $233.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on IQVIA from $220.00 to $276.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded IQVIA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. William Blair upgraded shares of IQVIA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of IQVIA from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $241.88.

IQVIA Company Profile

IQVIA (NYSE: IQV) is a global provider of advanced analytics, technology solutions and contract research services to the life sciences industry. The company combines clinical research capabilities with large-scale health data and analytics to support drug development, regulatory reporting, commercial strategy and real?world evidence generation. IQVIA traces its current form to the combination of Quintiles and IMS Health announced in 2016 and subsequently rebranded as IQVIA, bringing together long-established clinical research operations and extensive healthcare information assets.

IQVIA’s principal activities include outsourced clinical development services (acting as a contract research organization for phases I–IV), real?world evidence and observational research, regulatory and safety services, and a suite of technology platforms that enable data integration, analytics and operational management.