Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) Shares Down 5.4% – Time to Sell?

Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE)’s stock price was down 5.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $18.32 and last traded at $18.4740. 263,977 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 1,518,425 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.52.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTRE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Fortrea from $19.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research cut Fortrea from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Fortrea in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Fortrea from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, William Blair raised shares of Fortrea to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.75.

Fortrea Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $17.63 and a 200-day moving average of $13.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

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

Insider Activity at Fortrea

In related news, CEO Anshul Thakral sold 99,869 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $6,069,830.52. This trade represents a 23.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortrea

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fortrea by 494.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,515,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,729,000 after buying an additional 5,419,842 shares during the last quarter. Park West Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Fortrea during the third quarter worth about $18,579,000. Iron Triangle Partners LP bought a new stake in Fortrea in the fourth quarter worth about $34,264,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in Fortrea by 2,328.5% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 1,368,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,609,000 after acquiring an additional 1,312,297 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Fortrea by 163.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,299,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,241,000 after acquiring an additional 807,081 shares during the last quarter.

Fortrea Company Profile

Fortrea, Inc is a global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) that provides integrated solutions for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Established as a spin-off from Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Pharma Services business in October 2023, Fortrea leverages a legacy of scientific expertise and manufacturing scale to support drug development from early-stage research through commercial production. The company’s comprehensive offerings address the complex needs of both small-molecule and biologics programs, making it a single source for clients seeking to accelerate timelines and manage costs.

Fortrea’s core services encompass analytical and formulation development, process optimization, clinical and commercial manufacturing, and packaging services.