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IQVIA Holdings Inc. (IQV) Intrinsic Value & Margin of Safety | SafetyMargin.io

Healthcare › Diagnostics & Research

IQVIA Holdings Inc. (IQV) Stock Overview

Market Cap: $28.25B

IQVIA Holdings Inc. provides clinical research services, commercial insights, and healthcare intelligence to the life sciences and healthcare industries 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.

Mar 19, 2026$166.47

1Y -11.0%

Rewards

★Trailing P/E of 21.2x is 30% below the historical average of 30.2x — potentially undervalued relative to its own history.
★PEG ratio of 0.90 suggests the stock is undervalued relative to its growth rate — paying less than 1x for each unit of earnings growth.

Risks

⚠Each dollar of retained earnings has produced only $0.04 of market value — shareholders may have been better served by dividends.
⚠FCF yield of 7.8% suggests reasonable valuation assuming continued moderate growth.
⚠High leverage (2.46x debt/equity) combined with thin interest coverage (-1.0x) poses financial risk.

IQV Key Valuation Metrics

Free Cash Flow

$2.22B

FCF Yield

7.85%

Trailing P/E

21.23

Forward P/E

11.84

ROIC

8.52%

ROE

20.51%

Gross Margin

33.29%

PEG Ratio

0.90

Debt / Equity

2.46

Interest Coverage

N/A

Net Debt / EBITDA

4.82

Dividend Yield

N/A

IQV Historical Fundamentals

Price ÷ Earnings Per Share — how many years of current earnings you're paying for at today's price. Lower P/E may indicate undervaluation.

IQV $1 Retained Earnings Test

Market Value

$0.04

created per $1 retained

Value Destroyer

Earning Power

$0.73

created per $1 retained

Mediocre Allocator

Σ Retained

$4.09B

Δ Market Cap

+$181.5M

Δ Earning Power

+$2.99B

Buffett's "$1 Test": For every $1 retained, how much value did management create?
Market Value = market's verdict (mood-sensitive) · Earning Power = owner earnings / discount rate (mood-independent)

IQV Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Analysis

36.1% Overvalued

Price is 36.1% above estimated fair value

Current Price: $166.47

Strongly undervalued

Undervalued

Fairly valued

Overvalued

Strongly overvalued

Fair Value: $122.31

Strongly undervalued

Undervalued

Fairly valued

Overvalued

Strongly overvalued

Parameter	Min (Bear)Value	BaseValue	Max (Bull)Value
Initial Cash Flow
Growth Rate (Yr 1-5)	%	%	%
Growth Rate (Yr 6-10)	%	%	%
Terminal Growth Rate	%	%	%
Discount Rate	%	%	%
	Bear Case $61.13 Implied EV: $24.54B	Base Case $122.31 Implied EV: $34.92B	Bull Case $181.87 Implied EV: $45.03B

Reverse DCF — Market-Implied Growth

What growth rate is the market pricing in at $166?

+13.8%

Market-Implied Owner Earnings Growth

Standard FCF implies +7.1%

The market implies +13.8% Owner Earnings growth, above historical trends.

Standard FCF implies a demanding +7.1%, reflecting heavy growth investment.

IQV Economic Moat Score

65/100

Narrow Moat

70+ Wide · 40-69 Narrow · <40 None

Narrow moat with revenue predictability as the key competitive advantage. Improving roic consistency would strengthen the moat.

Composite score measuring competitive advantage durability across four dimensions: returns above cost of capital, pricing power stability, revenue predictability, and capital efficiency. Based on 4 years of fundamental data.

IQV Forensic Accounting

-2.47

Unlikely Manipulator

Above -1.78 = likely manipulator · -2.22 to -1.78 = grey zone

M-Score Trend

Beneish's 8-variable model estimates the probability of earnings manipulation. An M-Score above -1.78 signals elevated risk — companies in this range have historically been 3-5× more likely to be manipulating earnings. Scores between -2.22 and -1.78 fall in a grey zone warranting further investigation.

IQV Management & Board

Mr. Ari Bousbib

CEO & Chairman · Age 64

$7.16M

total pay

Mr. Eric M. Sherbet J.D.

Executive VP, General Counsel & Secretary · Age 61

$1.50M

total pay

Mr. W. Richard Staub III

President of Research & Development Solutions · Age 62

$1.83M

total pay

Mr. Alistair Grenfell

President of Commercial Solutions · Age 51

$1.70M

total pay

Mr. Michael J. Fedock MBA

Executive VP & Chief Financial Officer · Age 49

Mr. James G. Berkshire

Executive Vice President of Global Infrastructure & Operations · Age 51

Ms. Keriann Cherofsky

Senior VP, Corporate Controller & Chief Accounting Officer · Age 40

Dr. Jeffrey A. Spaeder M.D.

Chief Medical & Scientific Officer

Kerri Joseph

Senior VP of Investor Relations & Treasurer

Mr. Duane Sachs

Senior Vice President of Corporate Development

IQV Ownership

Insiders 1.1%Institutions 103.3%

No. of Institutional Holders1,609

High insider ownership aligns management incentives with shareholders — a key signal in Buffett-style analysis. Institutional concentration can indicate smart-money conviction but also crowding risk.

IQV Insider Buying Activity

0

Buys (3M)

0

Buys (12M)

DANHAKL JOHN G

Director

$255,740

@ $200.58 · 2024-12-03

Open market purchases · includes direct & indirect ownership · excludes option exercises

IQV Insider Selling Activity

0

Sells (3M)

5

Sells (12M)

Total value (12M): $22.68M

BOUSBIB ARI B

Chief Executive Officer

$8.13M

@ $222.43 · 2025-12-18

SHERBET ERIC M

General Counsel

$878,800

@ $219.70 · 2025-10-29

BOUSBIB ARI B

Chief Executive Officer

$12.46M

@ $220.33 · 2025-10-29

SHERBET ERIC M

General Counsel

$1.10M

@ $190.05 · 2025-07-23

CHEROFSKY KERIANN

Officer

$105,150

@ $191.53 · 2025-07-23

SHERBET ERIC M

General Counsel

$320,229

@ $246.33 · 2024-08-27

Direct ownership only · excludes indirect, option exercises, planned (10b5-1) sales & derivatives

IQV 🎭 Mr. Market's Mood

😨Fear(36/100)

"Market is pessimistic — investigate whether fears are temporary or structural"

Composite sentiment score based on 6 market signals. Inspired by Buffett's "Mr. Market" allegory — fear = potential opportunity, greed = potential risk. Must be used alongside fundamental analysis, not in isolation.

IQV ⚖️ Buffett Signal

⚪Awaiting DCF Data

The Buffett Signal cross-references market sentiment with DCF valuation. Configure the DCF Analysis above to generate a signal.

DCF Margin of Safety: N/AMr. Market's Mood: Fear (36)

IQV Investment Checklist & Notes

Do I understand this business?

Does it have a durable competitive advantage (moat)?

Is management honest and competent?

Is management allocating capital rationally?

Is the price reasonable (margin of safety)?

Is this within my circle of competence?

Auto-saved • Last updated: 3/20/2026, 4:31:51 AM

IQV Insider Buying Activity

0

Buys (3M)

0

Buys (12M)

DANHAKL JOHN G

Director

$255,740

@ $200.58 · 2024-12-03

Open market purchases · includes direct & indirect ownership · excludes option exercises

IQV Insider Selling Activity

0

Sells (3M)

5

Sells (12M)

Total value (12M): $22.68M

BOUSBIB ARI B

Chief Executive Officer

$8.13M

@ $222.43 · 2025-12-18

SHERBET ERIC M

General Counsel

$878,800

@ $219.70 · 2025-10-29

BOUSBIB ARI B

Chief Executive Officer

$12.46M

@ $220.33 · 2025-10-29

SHERBET ERIC M

General Counsel

$1.10M

@ $190.05 · 2025-07-23

CHEROFSKY KERIANN

Officer

$105,150

@ $191.53 · 2025-07-23

SHERBET ERIC M

General Counsel

$320,229

@ $246.33 · 2024-08-27

Direct ownership only · excludes indirect, option exercises, planned (10b5-1) sales & derivatives

IQV Investment Checklist & Notes

Do I understand this business?

Does it have a durable competitive advantage (moat)?

Is management honest and competent?

Is management allocating capital rationally?

Is the price reasonable (margin of safety)?

Is this within my circle of competence?

Auto-saved • Last updated: 3/20/2026, 4:31:51 AM