D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Sells 76,106 Shares of FARO Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:FARO)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. decreased its position in FARO Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:FARO - Free Report) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund 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 about 3.59% of FARO Technologies worth $17,221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of FARO Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in shares of FARO Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Covestor Ltd acquired a new position in shares of FARO Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $111,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of FARO Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $155,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 966 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FARO. StockNews.com began coverage on FARO Technologies in a research report on Friday. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Craig Hallum downgraded FARO Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC downgraded FARO Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th.

FARO Technologies Price Performance

Shares of FARO stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $42.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 613,486 shares, compared to its average volume of 275,683. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $29.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.48. The company has a market capitalization of $812.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -120.80 and a beta of 1.49. FARO Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $13.52 and a fifty-two week high of $42.64. 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 issued its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.10. 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 the consensus estimate of $91.40 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.36 EPS.

Insider Activity at FARO Technologies

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

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.