Meritage Portfolio Management Increases Stake in Medpace Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MEDP)

Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its stake in shares of Medpace Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MEDP) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,986 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Medpace were worth $915,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Medpace by 554.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Medpace by 144.3% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 171 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Medpace by 353.2% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $609,000 after buying an additional 1,960 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in Medpace by 20.2% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 2,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $669,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sheets Smith Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Medpace by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 3,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $949,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MEDP shares. UBS Group raised Medpace from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $282.00 to $452.00 in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Medpace from $446.00 to $454.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Medpace from $453.00 to $464.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised Medpace from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Medpace from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $340.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $443.00.

Insider Activity at Medpace

In related news, Director Ashley M. Keating sold 250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.87, for a total value of $102,467.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,467.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Medpace news, Director Ashley M. Keating sold 250 shares of Medpace stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.87, for a total transaction of $102,467.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,467.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO August J. Troendle sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $412.98, for a total transaction of $41,298,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,833,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,995,940,186.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 189,340 shares of company stock valued at $76,651,647 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 20.30% of the company’s stock.

Medpace Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MEDP traded up $6.08 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $395.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 85,311 shares, compared to its average volume of 249,994. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.70, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $397.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $324.12. Medpace Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $189.30 and a fifty-two week high of $421.00.

Medpace (NASDAQ:MEDP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The company reported $3.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by $0.75. Medpace had a net margin of 15.92% and a return on equity of 59.74%. The firm had revenue of $511.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $512.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Medpace Holdings, Inc. will post 11.23 EPS for the current year.

Medpace Profile

Medpace Holdings, Inc provides clinical research-based drug and medical device development services in North America, Europe, and Asia. The company offers a suite of services supporting the clinical development process from Phase I to Phase IV in various therapeutic areas. It provides clinical development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries; and development plan design, coordinated central laboratory, project management, regulatory affairs, clinical monitoring, data management and analysis, pharmacovigilance new drug application submissions, and post-marketing clinical support services.