Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 25,273 Shares of FARO Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:FARO)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its position in shares of FARO Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:FARO - Free Report) by 60.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,855 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 25,273 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.09% of FARO Technologies worth $427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 966 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in FARO Technologies by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 31,279 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $793,000 after buying an additional 1,333 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in FARO Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in FARO Technologies by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 12,307 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 2,672 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in FARO Technologies by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 65,722 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $1,667,000 after buying an additional 3,373 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of FARO Technologies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com cut shares of FARO Technologies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday, March 16th.

FARO Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of FARO traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $30.13. The company had a trading volume of 20,017 shares, compared to its average volume of 256,907. The firm has a market cap of $579.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -86.33 and a beta of 1.55. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.70 and a 200-day moving average of $26.53. FARO Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.52 and a 12 month high of $33.13. 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 quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $93.54 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $91.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.36 earnings per share.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FARO Technologies news, CFO Matthew Horwath sold 1,480 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were 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 $1,155,299. This represents a 3.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter James Lau sold 4,617 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $4,690,226.80. The trade was a 2.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,755 shares of company stock worth $356,020 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

FARO Technologies Company Profile

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.