Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Fortrea shares fell sharply, opening at $23.63 versus a prior close of $25.88 and later trading near $22.62.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Barclays and Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock, but the overall consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $22.80.
• Fortrea exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.28 in earnings per share versus a $0.22 estimate and revenue of $691.5 million versus a $671.6 million consensus forecast.

Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE - Get Free Report) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $25.88, but opened at $23.63. Fortrea shares last traded at $22.6190, with a volume of 372,720 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on FTRE shares. Barclays upgraded shares of Fortrea from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $22.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Fortrea in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $23.00 price target on shares of Fortrea in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Fortrea from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of Fortrea to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.80.

Fortrea Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a PE ratio of -24.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.93. The business has a 50 day moving average of $20.12 and a 200 day moving average of $15.70. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.06. Fortrea had a positive return on equity of 10.72% and a negative net margin of 3.18%. The company had revenue of $691.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $671.57 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Fortrea Holdings Inc. will post 0.86 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fortrea news, CEO Anshul Thakral sold 99,869 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 316,797 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 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 currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FTRE. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Fortrea in the third quarter worth about $97,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Fortrea by 15.2% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 17,352 shares of the company's stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296 shares during the period. Pullen Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Fortrea during the third quarter valued at $2,220,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Fortrea in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortrea by 29.1% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,670 shares of the company's stock valued at $233,000 after acquiring an additional 2,633 shares in the last quarter.

About Fortrea

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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