Medpace (NASDAQ:MEDP) Upgraded at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Medpace (NASDAQ:MEDP) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $450.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $340.00.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on MEDP. UBS Group raised Medpace from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the company from $282.00 to $452.00 in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Medpace from $312.00 to $408.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Medpace in a report on Monday, March 18th. They issued a hold rating and a $395.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Medpace from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Saturday, March 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $443.00.

Medpace Stock Performance

NASDAQ MEDP opened at $395.93 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $12.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.36, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.38. Medpace has a 52-week low of $189.30 and a 52-week high of $421.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $397.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $325.15.

Medpace (NASDAQ:MEDP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The company reported $3.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.75. The company had revenue of $511.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $512.39 million. Medpace had a net margin of 15.92% and a return on equity of 59.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.27 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Medpace will post 11.23 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Medpace news, major shareholder Medpace Investors, Llc sold 50,000 shares of Medpace stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.75, for a total value of $19,587,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,539,947 shares in the company, valued at $2,170,274,237.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Medpace Investors, Llc sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.75, for a total transaction of $19,587,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,539,947 shares in the company, valued at $2,170,274,237.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Susan E. Burwig sold 102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.00, for a total value of $41,106.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 15,181 shares in the company, valued at $6,117,943. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 189,340 shares of company stock worth $76,651,647. Company insiders own 20.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Medpace

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MEDP. RiverPark Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Medpace in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Medpace in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Medpace in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Medpace in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Medpace during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 77.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Medpace Company Profile

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.