Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Acquires 260,271 Shares of IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) by 33.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,039,436 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 260,271 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.57% of IQVIA worth $240,505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of IQVIA by 19.1% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of IQVIA by 2.2% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,804,161 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $754,864,000 after acquiring an additional 81,501 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of IQVIA by 2.9% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,889,263 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $568,460,000 after acquiring an additional 80,189 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of IQVIA by 3.4% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,325,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $457,483,000 after acquiring an additional 77,422 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in shares of IQVIA by 1,852.5% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.62% of the company’s stock.

IQVIA Stock Down 1.6 %

IQV opened at $234.23 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $243.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $220.87. IQVIA Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $167.42 and a 52 week high of $261.73. The company has a market capitalization of $42.51 billion, a PE ratio of 32.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The medical research company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.80 billion. IQVIA had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 29.32%. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.54 EPS. Analysts forecast that IQVIA Holdings Inc. will post 10.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Leerink Partnrs reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of IQVIA in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of IQVIA from $226.00 to $251.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of IQVIA from $260.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on shares of IQVIA in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of IQVIA from $240.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $256.80.

IQVIA 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.