FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) Sets New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Shares of FARO Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:FARO - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $42.46 and last traded at $42.18, with a volume of 128849 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $31.45.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on FARO shares. Craig Hallum lowered shares of FARO Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC lowered FARO Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded FARO Technologies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 16th.

FARO Technologies Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $813.45 million, a P/E ratio of -120.88 and a beta of 1.49. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $28.69 and its two-hundred 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $93.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $91.40 million. FARO Technologies had a negative return on equity of 2.49% and a negative net margin of 1.87%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.36 EPS.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Matthew Horwath sold 1,480 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.30, for a total transaction of $43,364.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,430 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,155,299. This trade represents a 3.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter James Lau sold 4,617 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.30, for a total value 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 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. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of FARO Technologies by 41.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 61,125 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,171,000 after acquiring an additional 17,892 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 966 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of FARO Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $3,144,000. Tectonic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FARO Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $536,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,333 shares during 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.