FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) Sets New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

FARO Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:FARO) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on the stock from $34.00 to $37.00. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. FARO Technologies traded as high as $32.95 and last traded at $32.91, with a volume of 89978 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $31.76.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on FARO. StockNews.com raised FARO Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FARO Technologies news, Director Yuval Wasserman sold 5,658 shares of FARO Technologies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.35, for a total value of $177,378.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 153,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,812,601.20. The trade was a 3.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FARO Technologies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FARO. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its stake in FARO Technologies by 27.6% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 78,277 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,498,000 after purchasing an additional 16,944 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew 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 buying an additional 234,650 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of FARO Technologies by 196.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 31,622 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 20,963 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of FARO Technologies by 4.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 222,559 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $4,260,000 after acquiring an additional 10,228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in FARO Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at $213,000. 97.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FARO Technologies Trading Up 3.9 %

The company has a market capitalization of $624.17 million, a P/E ratio of -94.25 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $28.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business posted $0.36 EPS.

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.