** Shares of healthcare tech firm Veeva Systems VEEV.N rise 1.8% to $305 premarket

** Brokerage TD Cowen raises stock rating to "buy" from "hold"; raises PT to Street high of $380 from $297

** New PT represents a 26.8% premium to stock's last close

** Veeva’s new platform, Vault CRM, is gaining momentum, with 9 of the top 20 pharma companies already signed on, far ahead of Salesforce CRM.N, brokerage says

** Brokerage says partnership with IQVIA IQV.N is seen as a major positive, adding it removes "lingering overhang and expanding new opportunities" especially in clinical trial software

** VEEV is "becoming/if not already the dominant player" in R&D software space, mirroring its established leadership in pharma commercial software - brokerage

** TD Cowen says shift towards insourcing and functional service providers represent a "secular tailwind for VEEV"

** As of last close, stock up 42% YTD

(Reporting by Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru)

((Kamal.Choudhury@thomsonreuters.com;))