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

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

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of FARO Technologies from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Craig Hallum lifted 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.

FARO Technologies Price Performance

Shares of FARO opened at $28.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 2.17. FARO Technologies has a twelve month low of $13.52 and a twelve month high of $33.13. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $29.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.61. The firm has a market cap of $550.29 million, a PE ratio of -82.83 and a beta of 1.55.

FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share.

Insider Activity at FARO Technologies

In related news, CEO Peter James Lau sold 4,617 shares of FARO Technologies 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 160,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,690,226.80. The trade was a 2.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $177,378.30. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 153,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,812,601.20. This represents a 3.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,755 shares of company stock valued at $356,020 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of FARO Technologies

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in FARO Technologies by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 54,069 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,371,000 after buying an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in FARO Technologies during the 4th quarter worth about $78,000. Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in FARO Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $386,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 8,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of FARO Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,990,000. 97.19% of the stock is 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.