FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) Shares Down 5% – Here’s Why

FARO Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:FARO)’s stock price traded down 5% on Friday . The company traded as low as $28.08 and last traded at $27.98. 239,821 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 42% from the average session volume of 168,833 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.46.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FARO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Craig Hallum upped their price objective on shares of 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 boosted their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded FARO Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, March 16th.

FARO Technologies Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $29.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 1.83. The stock has a market cap of $530.74 million, a P/E ratio of -79.81 and a beta of 1.55.

FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $93.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 prior year, the company earned $0.36 EPS.

Insider Activity

In other FARO Technologies news, CEO Peter James Lau sold 4,617 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,690,226.80. This represents a 2.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Matthew Horwath sold 1,480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.30, for a total transaction of $43,364.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,755 shares of company stock valued at $356,020. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of FARO Technologies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FARO. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of FARO Technologies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $78,000. Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in FARO Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $386,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in FARO Technologies by 84.9% during 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 period. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC bought a new position in FARO Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,990,000. 97.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.