FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

FARO Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:FARO) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on the stock from $34.00 to $37.00. The stock had previously closed at $27.07, but opened at $31.74. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. FARO Technologies shares last traded at $29.89, with a volume of 72,940 shares changing hands.

FARO has been the subject of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com upgraded FARO Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Craig Hallum upped their price target on shares of FARO Technologies from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Yuval Wasserman sold 5,658 shares of FARO Technologies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.35, for a total transaction of $177,378.30. Following the sale, the director now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of FARO Technologies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FARO. Quarry LP bought a new stake in FARO Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new position in FARO Technologies during the 4th quarter worth $55,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in FARO Technologies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $78,000. CWM LLC raised its holdings in FARO Technologies by 41.0% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,328 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd purchased a new position in FARO Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $111,000. Institutional investors own 97.19% of the company’s stock.

FARO Technologies Trading Up 11.1 %

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $28.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.16. 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 $568.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -85.93 and a beta of 1.40.

FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.45). FARO Technologies had a negative return on equity of 2.49% and a negative net margin of 1.87%. The firm had revenue of $93.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $91.40 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share.

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.