UPDATE 2-IMS Health posts loss on charges, but results beat

* Q3 EPS ex-items of 40 cents; Wall St view of 36 cents

* Has said is exploring strategic alternatives

* Shares rise 0.4 percent (Adds details from results, background, share activity)

NEW YORK, Oct 22 (Reuters) - IMS Health Inc RX.N, which tracks market data on the pharmaceutical industry, posted a quarterly net loss on Thursday on a charge for restructuring and other items, but the results topped expectations.

The company, which said earlier this week that it was exploring strategic alternatives, posted a net loss of $9.3 million, or 5 cents per share, compared with year-earlier net income of $75.9 million, or 41 cents per share.

Excluding the $106.3 million charge, IMS reported earnings of 40 cents per share. On that basis, analysts on average expected 36 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue fell 6 percent to $540.8 million, but ahead of the $522.1 million expected by analysts.

Sources told Reuters earlier this week that IMS was in talks with private equity firms about a sale of the company, which announced in July that it was shedding 850 positions, or 11 percent of its global workforce, as part of a restructuring.

IMS received an initial round of bids last week and may make a decision as early as November on whether to sell the company, one source said.

Shares rose 0.4 percent to $17.62 in midday New York Stock Exchange trading. (Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)