Anshul Thakral Sells 99,869 Shares of Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) Stock

Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE) 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 316,797 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,069,830.52. This represents a 23.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Fortrea Stock Up 4.2%

Shares of FTRE stock opened at $18.43 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. Fortrea Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $6.07 and a twelve month high of $21.39. The company has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.25, a PEG ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.99.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.05. Fortrea had a positive return on equity of 10.72% and a negative net margin of 3.18%.The firm had revenue of $678.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $647.57 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Fortrea Holdings Inc. will post 0.85 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortrea

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Fortrea by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,331,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,710,000 after purchasing an additional 258,098 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Fortrea by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,272,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,702,000 after purchasing an additional 293,992 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 5,419,842 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Fortrea by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,110,899 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,913,000 after purchasing an additional 39,777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Fortrea by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,219,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,528,000 after purchasing an additional 565,891 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FTRE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Fortrea in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Fortrea from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Fortrea in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Zacks Research downgraded Fortrea from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Fortrea from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.75.

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.