IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $222.5625.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on IQV shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of IQVIA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Morgan Stanley lowered IQVIA from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen upgraded IQVIA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $174.00 to $213.00 in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of IQVIA in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $221.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays upgraded IQVIA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 6th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IQVIA

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of IQVIA by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,650,532 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,429,426,000 after acquiring an additional 159,899 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in IQVIA by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,374,971 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $982,272,000 after purchasing an additional 24,453 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in IQVIA by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,087,380 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $923,276,000 after purchasing an additional 530,672 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of IQVIA by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,799,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $856,468,000 after buying an additional 528,753 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in IQVIA by 1.2% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,597,572 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $683,323,000 after acquiring an additional 41,643 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.62% of the company’s stock.

IQVIA Stock Down 2.6%

NYSE IQV opened at $174.56 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. IQVIA has a 52 week low of $153.01 and a 52 week high of $247.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a fifty day moving average of $173.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $192.69.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical research company reported $2.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.07. IQVIA had a net margin of 8.33% and a return on equity of 30.50%. The company had revenue of $4.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. IQVIA has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.650-12.950 EPS. On average, analysts predict that IQVIA will post 11.6 earnings per share for the current year.

IQVIA announced that its board has authorized 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 reacquire up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About IQVIA

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.