Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) Stock Bumped Up to Hold by UBS Group

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) was upgraded by stock analysts at UBS Group to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. William Blair raised shares of Fortrea to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Fortrea from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Fortrea from $19.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Fortrea from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Fortrea in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.00.

Fortrea Stock Up 1.1%

FTRE stock opened at $19.95 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The company’s 50 day moving average is $18.77 and its 200 day moving average is $15.46. The stock has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.97. Fortrea has a 1-year low of $8.39 and a 1-year high of $21.39.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.05. Fortrea had a negative net margin of 3.18% and a positive return on equity of 10.72%. The business had revenue of $678.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $647.57 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Fortrea will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Fortrea

In other Fortrea news, CEO Anshul Thakral sold 99,869 shares of Fortrea stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total transaction of $1,913,490.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 316,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,069,830.52. This trade represents a 23.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Company insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortrea

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FTRE. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fortrea by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,272,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,702,000 after purchasing an additional 293,992 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Fortrea during the second quarter valued at about $41,488,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Fortrea by 81.4% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,432,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,496,000 after buying an additional 643,000 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Health Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Fortrea by 7.3% in the first quarter. Eagle Health Investments LP now owns 1,307,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,317,000 after buying an additional 89,000 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Fortrea by 163.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,299,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,241,000 after buying an additional 807,081 shares during the period.

About Fortrea

Fortrea Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:FTRE) is a global contract research organization (CRO) that provides clinical development and related services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies. The company supports sponsors as they plan, manage and evaluate clinical studies designed to bring new medicines and therapies to market.

Fortrea’s services span clinical trial management, patient recruitment and engagement, data management, biostatistics, medical monitoring, regulatory support and clinical pharmacology.