Medpace (NASDAQ:MEDP) Raised to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Medpace (NASDAQ:MEDP) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $450.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $340.00.

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

Medpace Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MEDP opened at $395.93 on Tuesday. Medpace has a 12-month low of $189.30 and a 12-month high of $421.00. The company has a market capitalization of $12.27 billion, a PE ratio of 40.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $397.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $325.15.

Medpace (NASDAQ:MEDP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. 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 15.92% and a return on equity of 59.74%. The company had revenue of $511.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $512.39 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Medpace will post 11.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Medpace

In related 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 transaction of $41,106.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 15,181 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,117,943. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Medpace news, major shareholder Medpace Investors, Llc sold 13,988 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.39, for a total transaction of $5,404,823.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,525,959 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,135,175,298.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Susan E. Burwig sold 102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.00, for a total transaction of $41,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 189,340 shares of company stock valued at $76,651,647. Corporate insiders own 20.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MEDP. RiverPark Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Medpace in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Medpace during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Medpace during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Medpace during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Medpace during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. 77.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.