BofA Upgrades Iqvia On Upside Potential

Despite negative projections immediately following the Quintiles-IMS Holdings merger in 2016, Iqvia Holdings, Inc. IQV is showing growth, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. 

The Analyst

Analyst Derik de Bruin on Wednesday upgraded Iqvia Holdings from Neutral to Buy and increased the price target from $112 to $135.

The Thesis

"We believe that IQV will be able to grow competitively by leveraging its differentiated next-generation clinical development offerings and commercial technology solutions, with further potential growth upside through capital deployment,” de Bruin said in the upgrade note. 

Increased contract win rates and accelerating clinical development bookings account for much of the growth, the analyst said. 

Most of these contracts were achieved through IQV’s new orchestrated customer engagement solution launched in 2017, de Bruin said. The new bookings should start contributing to revenue growth in 2019, he said. 

Iqvia has demonstrated willingness to use capital deployment via share repurchases in the event that growth targets are below expectations, according to BofA. 

"We are positive [on] IQV as the pharma and biotech end markets remain healthy," de Bruin said. 

Price Action

Iqvia shares were down 1.29 pecent at $120.45 at the close Friday. 

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