Forte Biosciences (NASDAQ:FBRX) Downgraded by Brookline Capital Markets to Hold

Forte Biosciences (NASDAQ:FBRX) was downgraded by analysts at Brookline Capital Markets from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

FBRX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Evercore set a $77.00 price objective on Forte Biosciences in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen cut Forte Biosciences from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Barclays lowered Forte Biosciences from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $74.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen cut Forte Biosciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Forte Biosciences in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Forte Biosciences presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.50.

Forte Biosciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ FBRX opened at $76.65 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.59. Forte Biosciences has a twelve month low of $9.10 and a twelve month high of $76.68. The stock has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of -16.52 and a beta of 2.85.

Forte Biosciences (NASDAQ:FBRX) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($1.24) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.16) by ($0.08). Research analysts forecast that Forte Biosciences will post -4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Forte Biosciences

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Forte Biosciences by 444.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $560,000 after buying an additional 17,634 shares in the last quarter. Stempoint Capital LP acquired a new stake in Forte Biosciences in the 1st quarter valued at $1,503,000. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Forte Biosciences by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 13,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 1,403 shares in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. bought a new stake in Forte Biosciences in the first quarter valued at $2,196,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Forte Biosciences in the fourth quarter valued at $479,000. 77.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Forte Biosciences News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Forte Biosciences this week:

• Positive Sentiment: argenx will acquire all outstanding Forte shares for $77 in cash, giving investors a clear deal-value reference and significantly repricing FBRX above its pre-announcement level. The acquisition also gives argenx access to Forte’s experimental autoimmune therapy FB102, strengthening its immunology pipeline. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: The all-cash structure reduces exposure to biotechnology development risk for Forte shareholders, while the premium and strategic interest from argenx provide support for the current valuation. Proactive Investors article
• Neutral Sentiment: FBRX trading volume has been substantially above its average, consistent with merger-related positioning. A significant increase in put-option activity also indicates that some traders are hedging against deal or market risk rather than simply betting on further gains.
• Negative Sentiment: Several shareholder-rights law firms, including Kahn Swick & Foti, are investigating whether the $77 consideration and sale process adequately protect shareholders. Similar investigations by Halper Sadeh, Ademi and Monteverde could create litigation, delay or renegotiation risk, although these announcements do not by themselves indicate that the transaction will fail. Kahn Swick & Foti investigation

Forte Biosciences Company Profile

Forte Biosciences, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing innovative treatments to restore skin health by targeting the underlying biology of the skin barrier and microbiome. Headquartered in San Diego, California, Forte leverages proprietary platforms to discover and advance topical live biotherapeutic products and skin barrier therapies aimed at addressing serious dermatological conditions.

The company’s lead product candidate, FB-401, is a topical live biotherapeutic formulation designed to rebalance the skin microbiome in patients with atopic dermatitis.