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

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

A number of other brokerages have also commented 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 report on Thursday, December 12th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on FARO Technologies from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday.

FARO Technologies Stock Up 1.8 %

FARO opened at $31.96 on Friday. FARO Technologies has a 1-year low of $13.52 and a 1-year high of $33.13. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $606.66 million, a PE ratio of -91.31 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at FARO Technologies

In other FARO Technologies 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 value of $177,378.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 153,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,812,601.20. This trade represents a 3.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FARO Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Royce & Associates LP raised its position in shares of FARO Technologies by 20.0% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,409,031 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $26,969,000 after acquiring an additional 234,650 shares during the last quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 171,300 shares during the period. Harvey Partners LLC grew its stake in FARO Technologies by 17.8% during 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 during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in FARO Technologies by 9.1% during 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 during the period. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. grew its stake in FARO Technologies by 0.4% during 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 during the period. 97.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FARO Technologies Company Profile

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.