Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE) Stock Short Interest Report for October

Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totaling 7,675,846 shares, a drop of 38.9% from the September 30th total of 12,564,688 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,888,678 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.1 days. Approximately 8.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on FTRE. William Blair raised shares of Fortrea to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Fortrea from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Truist Financial increased their price target on Fortrea from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Fortrea in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $21.50 price objective on shares of Fortrea in a research report on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortrea has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.68.

Insider Transactions at Fortrea

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortrea

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new stake in Fortrea during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortrea in the 2nd quarter worth $59,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Fortrea by 22.3% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares during the period. Essential Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortrea by 140.2% in the 1st quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 9,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 5,647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Fortrea in the 3rd quarter valued at $97,000.

Key Fortrea News

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortrea this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fortrea reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.28 per share, above the $0.22 consensus estimate and up from $0.12 a year earlier. Revenue of $691.5 million also exceeded expectations of $671.6 million. Fortrea Q3 Earnings and Revenues Surpass Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management forecast 2026 revenue of $2.665 billion to $2.690 billion and raised its adjusted EBITDA outlook to $210 million-$218 million, signaling improved expected operating profitability. Fortrea Raises Adjusted EBITDA Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays raised its price target from $23 to $26 and maintained an “overweight” rating, reflecting increased confidence in Fortrea’s valuation and earnings potential. Barclays Fortrea Rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Despite the earnings beat, Fortrea continues to report a negative net margin, so investors may remain focused on whether the improved EBITDA outlook translates into sustainable bottom-line earnings. Fortrea Third-Quarter Results
• Negative Sentiment: Fortrea shares fell after the results, indicating that investors may have viewed the revised guidance, business outlook, or earnings quality as less compelling than the headline quarterly beat. Fortrea Shares Drop After Q3 Results

Fortrea Stock Down 8.0%

Shares of NASDAQ FTRE opened at $21.29 on Friday. Fortrea has a 52-week low of $8.55 and a 52-week high of $26.16. The stock has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a PE ratio of -29.16, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.97. The business has a fifty day moving average of $20.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.74.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $691.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $671.57 million. Fortrea had a negative net margin of 2.58% and a positive return on equity of 13.98%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fortrea will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortrea Company Profile

Fortrea Holdings Inc is a global contract research organization (CRO) that provides services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies. The company helps clients plan, manage and execute clinical development programs, supporting the testing of new medicines and therapies from early-stage research through regulatory approval and post-approval activities.

Its services include Phase I through Phase IV clinical trials, clinical operations, patient recruitment and access, data management, biostatistics, medical monitoring, pharmacovigilance and regulatory support.