Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $22.00 to $24.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Fortrea traded as high as $23.55 and last traded at $23.2750, with a volume of 799,558 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $22.42.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on FTRE. TD Cowen raised their price target on Fortrea from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird set a $23.00 price target on Fortrea in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Fortrea in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Fortrea from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Fortrea from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Anshul Thakral sold 99,869 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 316,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,069,830.52. The trade was a 23.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 0.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortrea

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FTRE. WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Fortrea by 26.7% during the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 389,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,771,000 after purchasing an additional 82,059 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Fortrea by 6,010.7% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 14,910 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 14,666 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in Fortrea by 22.6% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 18,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 3,417 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Fortrea by 20.1% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 65,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after buying an additional 10,939 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Fortrea by 22.3% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 716 shares in the last quarter.

Fortrea Trading Up 3.2%

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.43, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.52.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $678.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $647.57 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Fortrea Holdings Inc. will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Fortrea

Fortrea Holdings Inc is a global contract research organization (CRO) that provides services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies. The company supports the development and commercialization of healthcare products across a range of therapeutic areas.

Its services include clinical trial management, study design, patient recruitment and engagement, data management, biostatistics, regulatory support, medical affairs and post-approval services. Fortrea also provides technology-enabled and decentralized clinical trial solutions intended to help sponsors conduct research across traditional and remote settings.

Fortrea serves customers internationally, with operations and clinical trial capabilities spanning North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other global markets.