Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Grows Stake in FARO Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:FARO)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of FARO Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:FARO - Free Report) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 744,222 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 62,305 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 3.93% of FARO Technologies worth $18,874,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FARO. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of FARO Technologies by 41.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 61,125 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,171,000 after buying an additional 17,892 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of FARO Technologies by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,345 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 966 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of FARO Technologies by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 31,279 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $793,000 after purchasing an additional 1,333 shares in the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of FARO Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,144,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in FARO Technologies by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 31,048 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $787,000 after purchasing an additional 5,567 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at FARO Technologies

In other FARO Technologies news, CEO Peter James Lau sold 4,617 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.30, for a total transaction of $135,278.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 160,076 shares in the company, valued at $4,690,226.80. This represents a 2.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Matthew Horwath sold 1,480 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.30, for a total value of $43,364.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,430 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,155,299. The trade was a 3.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

FARO Technologies Stock Up 0.3 %

FARO Technologies stock traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $42.31. The stock had a trading volume of 1,976,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 256,494. The firm has a market capitalization of $813.45 million, a PE ratio of -120.88 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 $42.50. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $28.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 2.17.

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. The business had revenue of $93.54 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.40 million. FARO Technologies had a negative net margin of 1.87% and a negative return on equity of 2.49%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.36 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FARO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Craig Hallum cut FARO Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of FARO Technologies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of FARO Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday.

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.