Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 100,436 Shares of Fortrea Holdings Inc. $FTRE

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management cut its Fortrea stake by 58% in the third quarter, selling 100,436 shares and retaining 72,693 shares valued at approximately $1.45 million.
• Fortrea reported quarterly EPS of $0.23, beating estimates of $0.18, while revenue of $678.2 million exceeded the $647.6 million consensus forecast.
• Analyst sentiment has improved, with Deutsche Bank and Barclays upgrading the stock, although the overall consensus remains “Hold” with a $22.80 price target; FTRE recently traded at $23.92.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its stake in shares of Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE - Free Report) by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 72,693 shares of the company's stock after selling 100,436 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.08% of Fortrea worth $1,450,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FTRE. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Fortrea during the second quarter worth about $59,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Fortrea by 22.3% in 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. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Fortrea in the second quarter valued at about $115,000. Essential Partners LLC increased its holdings in Fortrea by 140.2% in the first quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 9,675 shares of the company's stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 5,647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortrea during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $177,000.

Fortrea Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FTRE opened at $23.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The company has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $19.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.82. Fortrea Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.55 and a twelve month high of $24.84.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $647.57 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Fortrea Holdings Inc. will post 0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTRE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. William Blair raised Fortrea to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Fortrea from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $25.00 in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Fortrea from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen raised Fortrea from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Fortrea from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortrea currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $22.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Anshul Thakral sold 99,869 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 316,797 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,069,830.52. This represents a 23.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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.

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.

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