Investors Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Fortrea (NASDAQ:FTRE)

Fortrea Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:FTRE) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors purchased 5,472 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 234% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,639 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on FTRE shares. Citigroup lowered Fortrea from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $23.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Baird R W cut shares of Fortrea from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Fortrea from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Fortrea from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortrea in a report on Friday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.30.

Fortrea Price Performance

Fortrea stock opened at $14.69 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.20. Fortrea has a 12-month low of $14.27 and a 12-month high of $41.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $18.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Thomas Pike sold 11,268 shares of Fortrea stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.04, for a total transaction of $203,274.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 159,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,884,018.72. The trade was a 6.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortrea

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortrea during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Fortrea by 102.4% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,398 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortrea in the third quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Fortrea by 21.4% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the period. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in Fortrea by 31.9% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 5,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 1,361 shares in 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.