Short Interest in FARO Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:FARO) Expands By 7.9%

FARO Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:FARO) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 967,000 shares, a growth of 7.9% from the January 15th total of 896,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 213,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.5 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Yuval Wasserman sold 5,658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 153,512 shares in the company, valued at $4,812,601.20. This represents a 3.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FARO Technologies

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harvey Partners LLC increased its position in FARO Technologies by 17.8% during the 3rd 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. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in FARO Technologies by 196.7% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 31,622 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $605,000 after acquiring an additional 20,963 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its position in FARO Technologies by 41.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 61,125 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,171,000 after acquiring an additional 17,892 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 valued at $8,633,000 after acquiring an additional 19,005 shares during the period. Finally, Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in shares of FARO Technologies by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,409,031 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $26,969,000 after purchasing an additional 234,650 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FARO. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of FARO Technologies from $26.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com raised FARO Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Craig Hallum lifted their target price on FARO Technologies from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th.

FARO Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of FARO stock traded up $0.94 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $29.38. The stock had a trading volume of 255,476 shares, compared to its average volume of 234,609. The firm has a market cap of $555.87 million, a PE ratio of -83.94 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 1.83. FARO Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $13.52 and a fifty-two week high of $32.90.

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.