FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

FARO Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:FARO)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday after Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on the stock from $34.00 to $37.00. The stock had previously closed at $27.07, but opened at $31.74. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. FARO Technologies shares last traded at $29.89, with a volume of 72,940 shares changing hands.

FARO has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Craig Hallum raised their target price on shares of FARO Technologies from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com raised FARO Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th.

Insider Activity at FARO Technologies

In related news, Director Yuval Wasserman sold 5,658 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.35, for a total transaction of $177,378.30. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 153,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,812,601.20. This 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FARO Technologies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Harvey Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $19,255,000 after purchasing an additional 152,000 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of FARO Technologies by 196.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 31,622 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 20,963 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted 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 worth $1,171,000 after buying an additional 17,892 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in FARO Technologies by 4.4% during the third 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 buying an additional 19,005 shares during the period. Finally, Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 234,650 shares during the last quarter. 97.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FARO Technologies Trading Up 11.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $568.87 million, a P/E ratio of -85.93 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.16.

FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.45). The firm had revenue of $93.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.40 million. FARO Technologies had a negative net margin of 1.87% and a negative return on equity of 2.49%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 EPS.

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.