Medpace (NASDAQ:MEDP) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume on Earnings Beat

Medpace Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MEDP) saw an uptick in trading volume on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. 182,992 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 24% from the previous session’s volume of 239,993 shares.The stock last traded at $365.34 and had previously closed at $376.26.

The company reported $3.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.75. Medpace had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 63.98%. The firm had revenue of $511.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $512.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.27 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MEDP. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Medpace from $312.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Medpace from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $282.00 to $452.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Medpace in a research report on Monday, March 18th. They set a “hold” rating and a $395.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Medpace from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Medpace from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $340.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $395.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Medpace news, VP Susan E. Burwig sold 102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.00, for a total value of $41,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 15,181 shares in the company, valued at $6,117,943. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO August J. Troendle sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,833,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,995,940,186.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Susan E. Burwig sold 102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.00, for a total transaction of $41,106.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 15,181 shares in the company, valued at $6,117,943. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 189,340 shares of company stock worth $76,651,647. 20.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Medpace by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Medpace by 355.2% during the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 2,774 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Medpace during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,992,000. Chase Investment Counsel Corp raised its position in Medpace by 3.2% in the third quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 9,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,384,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Medpace by 42.7% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 19,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,823,000 after acquiring an additional 5,956 shares during the period. 77.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Medpace Stock Up 8.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $12.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $397.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $323.14.

About Medpace

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.