Fortrea Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:FTRE)

Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 22,840 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 2,059% compared to the typical volume of 1,058 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTRE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Fortrea from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $25.00 in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Fortrea from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $25.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Fortrea from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Baird R W cut Fortrea from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Fortrea from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fortrea currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.00.

Fortrea Stock Down 8.1 %

NASDAQ FTRE opened at $21.67 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $19.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.35. Fortrea has a one year low of $16.53 and a one year high of $41.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.18. The company has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.16.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.02). Fortrea had a negative net margin of 10.99% and a positive return on equity of 2.00%. The business had revenue of $674.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $674.86 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.24 EPS. Fortrea’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Fortrea will post 0.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortrea

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Starboard Value LP increased its position in shares of Fortrea by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Starboard Value LP now owns 8,400,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,000,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares during the last quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. boosted its stake in Fortrea by 2.3% during the third quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 6,908,044 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,161,000 after buying an additional 158,044 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Fortrea by 5,021,169.7% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,125,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,519,000 after acquiring an additional 6,125,827 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Fortrea by 91.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,821,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,428,000 after acquiring an additional 2,304,677 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Fortrea by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,250,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,014,000 after acquiring an additional 233,577 shares during the last quarter.

Fortrea Company Profile

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.