Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 768 Shares of IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,847 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 768 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in IQVIA were worth $3,435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its stake in IQVIA by 327.6% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 124 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of IQVIA during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of IQVIA in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of IQVIA during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new position in IQVIA in the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Guggenheim cut shares of IQVIA from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on IQVIA from $254.00 to $245.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of IQVIA from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of IQVIA in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $285.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded IQVIA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, IQVIA has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at IQVIA

In other news, insider Ari Bousbib sold 31,678 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.53, for a total value of $7,936,289.34. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 796,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $199,610,278.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Ari Bousbib sold 31,678 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 796,752 shares in the company, valued at approximately $199,610,278.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kevin C. Knightly sold 8,607 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.17, for a total value of $2,153,213.19. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,313,642.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,285 shares of company stock valued at $10,331,003 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

IQVIA Stock Performance

IQVIA stock opened at $228.49 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $41.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $243.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $225.03. IQVIA Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $167.42 and a 1-year high of $261.73.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The medical research company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.80 billion. IQVIA had a return on equity of 29.17% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.54 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that IQVIA Holdings Inc. will post 10.12 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.