Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Reduces Stock Position in FARO Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:FARO)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. trimmed its stake in FARO Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:FARO) by 18.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 552,392 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 124,404 shares during the quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.’s holdings in FARO Technologies were worth $14,009,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of FARO Technologies by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 744,222 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $18,874,000 after acquiring an additional 62,305 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of FARO Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $10,849,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FARO Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,990,000. Bastion Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in FARO Technologies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,892,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in FARO Technologies by 244.0% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 213,423 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,412,000 after purchasing an additional 151,382 shares in the last quarter. 97.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Matthew Horwath sold 1,480 shares of FARO Technologies stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were 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 owns 39,430 shares in the company, valued at $1,155,299. This trade represents a 3.62% 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 Stock Performance

FARO stock opened at $42.27 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $812.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -120.77 and a beta of 1.49. FARO Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $13.52 and a twelve month 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. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.00.

FARO Technologies (NASDAQ:FARO) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $93.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FARO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered FARO Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 16th. Needham & Company LLC cut FARO Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Craig Hallum lowered shares of FARO Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th.

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.