Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,090,000 shares, an increase of 42.7% from the May 15th total of 5,670,000 shares. Approximately 9.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,240,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.5 days.

Insider Activity at Fortrea

In other news, General Counsel James S. Hanson acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.30 per share, with a total value of $50,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 7,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $189,117.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Thomas Pike acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $24.81 per share, with a total value of $248,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 57,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,434,687.87. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel James S. Hanson acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.30 per share, with a total value of $50,600.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 7,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $189,117.50. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fortrea

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortrea during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whittier Trust Co. acquired a new stake in Fortrea during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. ZRC Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Fortrea during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in Fortrea during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Glassman Wealth Services acquired a new stake in Fortrea during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000.

Fortrea Stock Down 3.0 %

NASDAQ FTRE traded down $0.73 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $23.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,353,534 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,380,410. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.42. Fortrea has a 52 week low of $23.78 and a 52 week high of $41.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $662.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $754.58 million. Fortrea had a negative net margin of 4.11% and a positive return on equity of 4.76%. Fortrea’s revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Fortrea will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on FTRE. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Fortrea in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Fortrea in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $27.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Fortrea in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $27.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Fortrea from $36.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Fortrea from $33.00 to $27.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.30.

About Fortrea

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.