Medpace (NASDAQ:MEDP) Raised to “Equal Weight” at Barclays

Medpace (NASDAQ:MEDP) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Barclays from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note issued on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $500.00 target price on the stock. Barclays‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 6.25% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Medpace in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Medpace in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $522.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Medpace from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $560.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Mizuho set a $582.00 price target on shares of Medpace in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Medpace from $555.00 to $539.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $486.67.

Medpace Price Performance

MEDP opened at $470.59 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $533.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $538.96. The company has a market capitalization of $13.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.44. Medpace has a 1-year low of $250.05 and a 1-year high of $628.92.

Medpace (NASDAQ:MEDP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The company reported $4.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.18 by $0.49. The company had revenue of $708.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $689.53 million. Medpace had a return on equity of 118.82% and a net margin of 17.83%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.67 EPS. Medpace has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.680-17.500 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Medpace will post 12.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Medpace by 31.6% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,349,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $758,061,000 after acquiring an additional 324,293 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in Medpace by 14.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 945,814 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,853,000 after purchasing an additional 116,354 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Medpace by 17.4% in the second quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 817,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,559,000 after purchasing an additional 121,213 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Medpace by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 667,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,836,000 after buying an additional 24,625 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its position in shares of Medpace by 12.0% in the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 584,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,679,000 after buying an additional 62,503 shares during the period. 77.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Medpace

Medpace Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: MEDP) is a global contract research organization (CRO) that provides comprehensive clinical development services to biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device companies. The company supports clinical trials across all phases (I–IV), offering end-to-end solutions designed to streamline the development process and accelerate the delivery of new therapies to market.

Medpace’s core service offerings include clinical pharmacology, regulatory affairs consulting, project management, central laboratory services, imaging, data management and biostatistics, pharmacovigilance and medical writing.