Equitable Holdings Inc. Takes Position in IQVIA Holdings Inc. $IQV

Equitable Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,167 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $419,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IQV. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of IQVIA during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,811,292,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of IQVIA by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,374,971 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $982,272,000 after acquiring an additional 24,453 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of IQVIA by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,087,380 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $923,276,000 after purchasing an additional 530,672 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in IQVIA by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,799,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $856,468,000 after purchasing an additional 528,753 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in IQVIA by 15.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,773,984 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $526,891,000 after purchasing an additional 367,204 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on IQV. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $240.00 target price on IQVIA in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. HSBC restated a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of IQVIA in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of IQVIA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of IQVIA from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of IQVIA from $252.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, IQVIA presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $241.88.

IQVIA Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of IQV opened at $260.48 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $222.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $189.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18. The company has a market capitalization of $42.88 billion, a PE ratio of 32.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.18. IQVIA Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $154.50 and a 52-week high of $265.25.

IQVIA (NYSE:IQV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The medical research company reported $3.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.03 by $0.12. IQVIA had a net margin of 8.10% and a return on equity of 30.25%. The firm had revenue of $4.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.81 earnings per share. IQVIA’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. IQVIA has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.800-13.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that IQVIA Holdings Inc. will post 11.57 EPS for the current year.

IQVIA declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 7th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to purchase up to 6.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric Sherbet sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.16, for a total transaction of $1,245,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,999 shares in the company, valued at $5,232,110.84. This trade represents a 19.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Keriann Cherofsky sold 558 shares of IQVIA stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.21, for a total transaction of $136,827.18. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 2,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $732,932.69. The trade was a 15.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,913 shares of company stock worth $3,098,793. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

IQVIA Profile

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.