Forte Biosciences (NASDAQ:FBRX) Stock Rating Lowered by Brookline Capital Markets

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

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

Forte Biosciences Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Forte Biosciences stock opened at $76.65 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.52 and a beta of 2.85. Forte Biosciences has a 1-year low of $9.10 and a 1-year high of $76.68. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $28.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.59.

Forte Biosciences (NASDAQ:FBRX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($1.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.16) by ($0.08). As a group, equities research analysts predict that Forte Biosciences will post -4.27 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Forte Biosciences

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Forte Biosciences by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 733 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Forte Biosciences in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Forte Biosciences by 5,641.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Forte Biosciences by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 64,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $829,000 after purchasing an additional 4,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Forte Biosciences by 23.8% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 4,491 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.63% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Forte Biosciences

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.