StockNews.com Upgrades FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday morning.

Separately, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a buy rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of FARO Technologies in a research report on Friday.

FARO Technologies Price Performance

FARO stock opened at $18.16 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.03. FARO Technologies has a twelve month low of $10.30 and a twelve month high of $24.80.

FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported ($0.38) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.11). FARO Technologies had a negative return on equity of 16.09% and a negative net margin of 11.92%. The business had revenue of $84.24 million for the quarter. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.12) EPS.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Jeffrey D. Sexton sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.06, for a total transaction of $30,090.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 27,706 shares in the company, valued at $555,782.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of FARO Technologies

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FARO. Kent Lake Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of FARO Technologies by 23.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kent Lake Capital LLC now owns 650,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $9,900,000 after purchasing an additional 125,000 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in FARO Technologies by 6.0% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 523,118 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $11,252,000 after buying an additional 29,394 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in FARO Technologies by 20.0% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 453,340 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $6,904,000 after buying an additional 75,697 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of FARO Technologies by 54.9% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 282,013 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $6,066,000 after buying an additional 99,990 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of FARO Technologies by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 257,109 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,793,000 after acquiring an additional 4,610 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.