Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $15.14, but opened at $16.11. Fortrea shares last traded at $16.05, with a volume of 511,614 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FTRE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Fortrea from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Citigroup raised shares of Fortrea from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $12.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho set a $11.00 price target on shares of Fortrea in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Fortrea from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Fortrea from $7.00 to $9.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortrea currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.50.

Fortrea Trading Up 5.7%

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $11.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.76.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $701.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $643.43 million. Fortrea had a positive return on equity of 5.64% and a negative net margin of 36.77%. On average, research analysts expect that Fortrea Holdings Inc. will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FTRE. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Fortrea during the 1st quarter worth about $575,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Fortrea by 181.9% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,095,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,269,000 after acquiring an additional 706,779 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Fortrea by 72.8% in the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 224,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after purchasing an additional 94,448 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortrea by 1,625.8% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,499,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,296,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortrea by 134.9% during the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 303,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,294,000 after purchasing an additional 174,549 shares during the last quarter.

About Fortrea

Fortrea Holdings Inc, a contract research organization, primarily engages in the provision of biopharmaceutical product and medical device development services worldwide. The company operates through two segments: Clinical Services and Enabling Services. The Clinical Services segment provides across the clinical pharmacology and clinical development spectrum.