FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on FARO Technologies from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Craig Hallum boosted their price objective on FARO Technologies from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th.

FARO Technologies Price Performance

Shares of FARO opened at $27.71 on Friday. FARO Technologies has a one year low of $13.52 and a one year high of $33.13. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $29.28 and its 200-day moving average is $24.13. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $525.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -79.17 and a beta of 1.55.

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

Insider Transactions at FARO Technologies

In related news, 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 transaction 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 $4,812,601.20. This 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 is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Royce & Associates LP grew its holdings in shares of FARO Technologies by 20.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 234,650 shares during the last quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of FARO Technologies by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 1,029,250 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $19,700,000 after purchasing an additional 171,300 shares during the period. Harvey Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of FARO Technologies by 17.8% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in FARO Technologies by 9.1% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. raised its holdings in FARO Technologies by 0.4% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.19% of the company’s stock.

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.