FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) Lowered to “Buy” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Sunday morning.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on FARO. Craig Hallum upped their price objective on FARO Technologies from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on FARO Technologies from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th.

FARO Technologies Stock Up 4.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FARO opened at $29.43 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $558.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -84.08 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. FARO Technologies has a 12-month low of $13.52 and a 12-month high of $33.13. The business’s 50 day moving average is $29.56 and its 200 day moving average is $24.53.

FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $93.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.40 million. FARO Technologies had a negative return on equity of 2.49% and a negative net margin of 1.87%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.36 earnings per share.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Yuval Wasserman sold 5,658 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.35, for a total transaction of $177,378.30. Following the sale, the director now owns 153,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,812,601.20. This represents a 3.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter James Lau sold 4,617 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.30, for a total value of $135,278.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 160,076 shares in the company, valued at $4,690,226.80. This trade represents a 2.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,755 shares of company stock valued at $356,020 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of FARO Technologies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Harvey Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of FARO Technologies by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Harvey Partners LLC now owns 1,006,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $19,255,000 after acquiring an additional 152,000 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of FARO Technologies by 196.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 31,622 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $605,000 after acquiring an additional 20,963 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of FARO Technologies by 41.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 61,125 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,171,000 after acquiring an additional 17,892 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of FARO Technologies by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 450,899 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $8,633,000 after purchasing an additional 19,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of FARO Technologies by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,345 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 966 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.19% of the company’s stock.

About FARO Technologies

FARO Technologies, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and supports software driven three-dimensional measurement, imaging, and realization solutions worldwide. The company offers FaroArm, a combination of a portable articulated measurement arm, a computer, and CAM2 software programs; FARO Laser Tracker, a combination of a portable large-volume laser measurement tool, a computer, and CAM2 software programs; FARO Laser Projector, which provides a virtual template that operators and assemblers can use to position components; FARO Laser Scanning Portfolio to measure and collect a cloud of data points for 3D rendering of an object or area; and FARO Mobile Laser Portfolio provides 3D scanning while attached to other mobile devices, such as drones for metrology, reverse engineering, factory automation, building information modeling, public safety, and other applications.