IQVIA (IQV) RSU sell-vs-hold

Calculator · free · no signup · IQV

Sell at vest or hold? Compare after-tax payout from selling IQVIA RSUs at vest vs. holding through the LTCG cliff at 12 months.

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Your vest

pre-IPO? enter price manually

Tax inputs

Hold strategy

1 yr
20%
20%
10.0%

Best after-tax payout — at year 1 yr

$47,709

Sell + invest wins by $4,981 over Hold 1 yr.

Estimates only. Not financial advice.

This vest pushes your top federal rate from 24% to 35%. Hover the Federal value below for the bracket-by-bracket slicing.

Heads-up: under-withholding. Your employer withholds federal tax at the IRS supplemental rate (22.0% on this vest, ≈ $17,600). Your marginal federal rate on this vest is 32.7%, owing $26,171. Expect to settle the $8,571 gap at tax time.

The hidden purchase

Tax was paid at vest either way. Holding is mathematically equivalent to taking $44,509 in after-tax cash and buying $44,509 of IQV today.

Most diversification frameworks would advise against a purchase that size in a single name; the right answer depends on your conviction in IQV. Holding past one year converts the gain to LTCG.

Sell + invest

Best payout
Vest value (shares × price)$80,000
Federal
State
Medicare$1,160
Additional Medicare$720
Market gain over 1 yr at 10.0%$4,451
Cap-gain tax on diversified gain — LTCG (federal + state + NIIT)$1,251
Net at year 1 yr$47,709

Sell every share at vest; invest the after-tax cash at the market return for 1 yr, then liquidate. Diversified — no single-stock concentration risk.

Hold 1 yr

Vest value (shares × price)$80,000
Vest tax (federal + state + FICA)
Net at year 1 yr$42,728

Sold 444 shares to cover vest tax (net-settled); kept 556 shares 1 yr to qualify for long-term capital gains.

Social Security + Medicare are payroll taxes (collectively called FICA) — they apply because you're still employed at vest.

Both columns are stated in year-1 yr dollars. The sell side compounds at the market return; the hold side compounds at your single-stock expected return after a 20% volatility drag.

Estimates only. Assumes net-settled (sell-to-cover) vesting; double-trigger and pre-IPO RSUs are out of scope. Excludes multi-state moves, AMT interactions on other equity, and 83(b) elections. Not financial advice.

You evaluated one RSU vest. The beta plans every vest of every grant across years, with concentration and AMT in the loop.

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Related calculators: RSU Lot Order Calculator · Stock Concentration Calculator

About IQVIA

IQVIA (IQV) is a public Other company, incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Durham, NC.

Equity grants at IQVIA typically include restricted stock units (RSUs).

IQVIA Holdings, Inc. is an American health information technology and clinical research company headquartered in Durham, North Carolina. The company provides clinical research services, healthcare analytics, technology solutions, and commercial outsourcing services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, and healthcare organizations worldwide.

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

IMS Health, a pharmaceutical data company dating to 1954, merged with Quintiles, a contract research organization, in 2016 to create IQVIA. The combination pairs prescription and claims data covering much of the industry with the operational capacity to run clinical trials, which lets the company use real-world evidence to design and site studies. Segments cover technology and analytics, research and development solutions, and contract sales. Headquarters are in Durham, North Carolina, and results follow pharmaceutical research budgets.

Sources: iqvia.com · en.wikipedia.org

Equity comp at IQVIA

  • RSUs use single-trigger vesting: shares become yours as each portion vests on schedule, and the value is taxed as ordinary income at that point. No IPO or acquisition is required.

Researched 2026-08-17.

OptionsAhoy is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by IQVIA.

IQVIA (IQV) RSUs vest as ordinary income at the price on vest day. The decision is whether to sell at vest and reinvest, or hold the shares through the 12-month LTCG cliff. This calculator runs both paths through the same after-tax math so you can compare like-for-like.

All IQVIA tools → · Use the generic RSU Sell-vs-Hold Calculator for any company. Diversifying multiple RSU lots? See the lot-by-lot sell order →

IQVIA equity questions

Should I sell or hold my IQVIA RSUs at vest?
IQVIA restricted stock units (RSUs) are taxed as ordinary income on their value at vest whether or not you sell. The only open decision is what to do with the shares afterward: sell at vest and reinvest, or hold past twelve months for long-term capital-gains treatment on any further gain. The calculator above runs both paths through the same after-tax math so you can compare them directly.
Does IQVIA grant ISOs, NSOs, or RSUs?
Equity compensation at IQVIA typically takes the form of restricted stock units (RSUs). Restricted stock units are taxed as ordinary income when they vest.
Do IQVIA RSUs use double-trigger vesting?
No. IQVIA restricted stock units (RSUs) use single-trigger vesting: each tranche becomes yours as it vests on schedule, taxed as ordinary income at that point, with no liquidity event required.
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