FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) Downgraded to Buy Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on FARO. Craig Hallum raised 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 raised 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 Performance

FARO opened at $29.43 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $558.64 million, a P/E ratio of -84.08 and a beta of 1.55. FARO Technologies has a 52-week low of $13.52 and a 52-week high of $33.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 2.17. The business’s fifty day moving average is $29.56 and its 200-day moving average is $24.53.

FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $93.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period last year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share.

Insider Buying and Selling at FARO Technologies

In other news, Director Yuval Wasserman sold 5,658 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 153,512 shares in the company, valued at $4,812,601.20. This trade represents a 3.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter James Lau sold 4,617 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 160,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,690,226.80. This trade represents a 2.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,755 shares of company stock worth $356,020. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FARO Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Needham Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of FARO Technologies by 20.0% during the third quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 1,029,250 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $19,700,000 after acquiring an additional 171,300 shares during the last quarter. Harvey Partners LLC increased its holdings in FARO Technologies by 17.8% in the third quarter. Harvey Partners LLC now owns 1,006,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $19,255,000 after purchasing an additional 152,000 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in FARO Technologies by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 744,222 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $18,874,000 after purchasing an additional 62,305 shares in the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. increased its holdings in FARO Technologies by 0.4% in the third quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 676,796 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $12,954,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in FARO Technologies by 4.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 450,899 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $8,633,000 after purchasing an additional 19,005 shares in the last quarter. 97.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.