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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday.

Separately, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of FARO Technologies in a report on Friday.

FARO Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of FARO opened at $18.16 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.95. FARO Technologies has a 52-week low of $10.30 and a 52-week high of $24.80.

FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported ($0.38) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $84.24 million for the quarter. FARO Technologies had a negative return on equity of 16.09% and a negative net margin of 11.92%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.12) earnings per share.

Insider Buying and Selling at FARO Technologies

In other news, VP Jeffrey D. Sexton sold 1,500 shares of FARO Technologies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.06, for a total transaction of $30,090.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 27,706 shares in the company, valued at $555,782.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FARO Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in FARO Technologies by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,420 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of FARO Technologies by 2.7% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 41,600 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in FARO Technologies by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 9,554 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $146,000 after purchasing an additional 1,957 shares in the last quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in FARO Technologies by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 23,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $350,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of FARO Technologies by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 80,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,802,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.19% of the company’s stock.

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.