D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Lowers Holdings in FARO Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:FARO)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of FARO Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:FARO - Free Report) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 679,053 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 76,106 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned approximately 3.59% of FARO Technologies worth $17,221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in FARO Technologies by 41.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 61,125 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,171,000 after purchasing an additional 17,892 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of FARO Technologies by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,345 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 966 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in FARO Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at $3,144,000. Tectonic Advisors LLC purchased a new position in FARO Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at $536,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in FARO Technologies by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 31,279 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $793,000 after acquiring an additional 1,333 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on FARO shares. StockNews.com lowered FARO Technologies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 16th. Needham & Company LLC cut FARO Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Craig Hallum cut FARO Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th.

Insider Transactions at FARO Technologies

In other news, CFO Matthew Horwath sold 1,480 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.30, for a total value of $43,364.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 39,430 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,155,299. This represents a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Peter James Lau sold 4,617 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.30, for a total transaction of $135,278.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 160,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,690,226.80. This trade represents a 2.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

FARO Technologies Price Performance

FARO stock opened at $42.16 on Tuesday. FARO Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.52 and a 52 week high of $42.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $810.57 million, a P/E ratio of -120.45 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.80. 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 - Get Free Report) 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $91.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $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.

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