Evercore ISI analyst Ross Muken raised estimates and his price target on Quintiles (NYSE: Q) to $78.00 (from $70.00) but maintained his Hold rating following the latest earnings report.

The firm raised FY 2016 EPS from $3.75 to $3.85, FY 2017 EPS from $3.40 to $3.65 and FY 2018 EPS from $4.00 to $4.10.

Muken commented, "Quintile’s mixed quarter provides plenty of fodder for both bulls & bears, with each side falling on familiar party/business segment lines. The bears attack IHS & the Bulls stump on PDev. IHS continued to be weak (soft bookings and book-to-bill <1.0x) despite being helped by a ~$9 MM benefit to IHS’ topline form a royalty agreement restructuring, and management’s guidance of revenue declines of 3-6% constant currency for the year. On the flip side, PDev posted strong bookings and a book-to-bill of 1.56x, ultimately giving management confidence in respectable 10% constant currency growth for the year (HSD ex M&A). Additionally, management’s confidence in improving PDev margins led to the FY’16 EPS guidance raise. Where we fall out is somewhere in the middle. We herald PDev’s strong Q, but reflect on the segment’s weakness last Q and that a lot of 2Q’s strength was ultimately a pushout from 1Q. IHS’ CSO business is troubled, but the real-world and late-phase businesses continue to grow at white-hot rates. Additionally, we believe the IMS merger will only help this business grow and become a more significant portion of the overall business. We, however, wait to gain better visibility on the tangible benefits of the merger before declaring an IHS victory and remain on the sidelines given multiples appear fair relative to the historical 3-yr average. In conjunction with the results we have also raised our PT to $78.00."

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Shares of Quintiles closed at $75.45 yesterday.