Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) Stock Moved Down to “Hold” by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Fortrea from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $21.50 price objective on shares of Fortrea in a research report on Friday. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Fortrea in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Fortrea from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Fortrea from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.68.

Fortrea Stock Performance

Shares of FTRE stock opened at $21.29 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.93. Fortrea has a 1-year low of $8.55 and a 1-year high of $26.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.74.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) last released its 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 13.98% and a negative net margin of 2.58%. The company had revenue of $691.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $671.57 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Fortrea will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fortrea news, CEO Anshul Thakral sold 99,869 shares of Fortrea stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $6,069,830.52. The trade was a 23.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fortrea

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTRE. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Fortrea by 22.3% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fortrea by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fortrea in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Amundi boosted its holdings in Fortrea by 20.2% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 12,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 2,101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Fortrea by 15.2% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 17,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296 shares in the last quarter.

Key Headlines Impacting Fortrea

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortrea this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fortrea reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.28 per share, above the $0.22 consensus estimate and up from $0.12 a year earlier. Revenue of $691.5 million also exceeded expectations of $671.6 million. Fortrea Q3 Earnings and Revenues Surpass Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management forecast 2026 revenue of $2.665 billion to $2.690 billion and raised its adjusted EBITDA outlook to $210 million-$218 million, signaling improved expected operating profitability. Fortrea Raises Adjusted EBITDA Outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays raised its price target from $23 to $26 and maintained an “overweight” rating, reflecting increased confidence in Fortrea’s valuation and earnings potential. Barclays Fortrea Rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Despite the earnings beat, Fortrea continues to report a negative net margin, so investors may remain focused on whether the improved EBITDA outlook translates into sustainable bottom-line earnings. Fortrea Third-Quarter Results
• Negative Sentiment: Fortrea shares fell after the results, indicating that investors may have viewed the revised guidance, business outlook, or earnings quality as less compelling than the headline quarterly beat. Fortrea Shares Drop After Q3 Results

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.