FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) Cut to Buy at StockNews.com

FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday.

FARO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Craig Hallum raised their price target on FARO Technologies from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of 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 Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ FARO opened at $28.99 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $550.29 million, a P/E ratio of -82.83 and a beta of 1.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $29.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.61.

FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) last announced its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 business earned $0.36 EPS.

Insider Buying and Selling at FARO Technologies

In other FARO Technologies news, CFO Matthew Horwath sold 1,480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.30, for a total transaction of $43,364.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 39,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,155,299. The trade was a 3.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Yuval Wasserman sold 5,658 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.35, for a total value of $177,378.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 153,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,812,601.20. The trade was a 3.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,755 shares of company stock worth $356,020. Insiders own 2.10% 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. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in FARO Technologies by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 54,069 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of FARO Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $78,000. Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of FARO Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $386,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in FARO Technologies by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 17,430 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $442,000 after acquiring an additional 8,001 shares during the period. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in FARO Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at $8,990,000. 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.