IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) Short Interest Up 25.4% in February

IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,510,000 shares, a growth of 25.4% from the February 13th total of 2,800,000 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,430,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on IQV. Barclays cut their price objective on IQVIA from $255.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partners reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $248.00 target price (down from $260.00) on shares of IQVIA in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of IQVIA in a research report on Monday, February 10th. BTIG Research lowered IQVIA from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on IQVIA from $212.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $249.05.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in IQVIA by 612.5% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 228 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of IQVIA in the third quarter worth approximately $230,000. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in IQVIA by 7.4% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 809 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $192,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in IQVIA by 33.9% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,437 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $814,000 after buying an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in IQVIA by 26.9% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 245,136 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $58,090,000 after buying an additional 51,970 shares during the last quarter. 89.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

IQVIA Stock Down 0.3 %

IQV stock traded down $0.55 during trading on Monday, reaching $184.64. 1,368,352 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,220,859. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $32.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $196.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $209.96. IQVIA has a 12 month low of $179.28 and a 12 month high of $256.34.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.11 by ($0.21). IQVIA had a return on equity of 28.81% and a net margin of 8.91%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that IQVIA will post 10.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.