UBS Group Downgrades Medpace (NASDAQ:MEDP) to Sell

Medpace (NASDAQ:MEDP) was downgraded by investment analysts at UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $305.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $300.00. UBS Group’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 30.33% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $366.00 price objective (up from $283.00) on shares of Medpace in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Medpace from $328.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Medpace from $298.00 to $436.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Cowen cut Medpace from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Medpace from $300.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $406.60.

Medpace Price Performance

MEDP opened at $437.78 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.47. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $328.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $322.97. Medpace has a 1 year low of $250.05 and a 1 year high of $501.30.

Medpace (NASDAQ:MEDP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The company reported $3.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.00 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $603.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $537.70 million. Medpace had a net margin of 18.74% and a return on equity of 67.66%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.75 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Medpace will post 12.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Kevin M. Brady sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $454.23, for a total transaction of $5,450,760.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,725,380. This represents a 66.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, President Jesse J. Geiger sold 41,801 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.11, for a total value of $18,940,451.11. Following the sale, the president owned 36,503 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,539,874.33. This represents a 53.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 112,788 shares of company stock valued at $51,018,354. 20.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Medpace

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MEDP. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Medpace by 9.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,186,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $361,596,000 after purchasing an additional 102,015 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Medpace by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 936,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,247,000 after purchasing an additional 28,161 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Medpace during the first quarter worth about $212,131,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Medpace by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 656,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,031,000 after purchasing an additional 28,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Medpace by 1.1% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 582,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $177,411,000 after purchasing an additional 6,225 shares in the last quarter. 77.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Medpace

Medpace Holdings, Inc engages in the provision of outsourced clinical development services to the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device industries. Its services include medical department, clinical trial management, data-driven feasibility, study-start-up, clinical monitoring, regulatory affairs, patient recruitment and retention, medical writing, biometrics and data sciences, pharmacovigilance, core laboratory, laboratories, clinics, and quality assurance.