Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Short Interest Update

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,580,000 shares, a decrease of 15.7% from the February 28th total of 5,430,000 shares. Currently, 8.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 741,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total transaction of $61,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,780,455.42. This represents a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VECO. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 9,391 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 86.9% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 110,838 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,970,000 after purchasing an additional 51,526 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Veeco Instruments by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 164,871 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,419,000 after purchasing an additional 24,154 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Veeco Instruments by 125.2% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 349,785 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,374,000 after purchasing an additional 194,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments in the 4th quarter worth approximately $377,000. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on VECO. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price target (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup cut their target price on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays cut their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.43.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VECO opened at $20.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of 16.37 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 3.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $23.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.97. Veeco Instruments has a twelve month low of $19.57 and a twelve month high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.14). Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 10.28%. Equities analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

Veeco Instruments Company Profile

Veeco Instruments Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, sells, and supports semiconductor and thin film process equipment primarily to make electronic devices in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, China, Rest of the Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company offers laser annealing, ion beam deposition and etch, metal organic chemical vapor deposition, single wafer wet processing and surface preparation, molecular beam epitaxy, advanced packaging lithography, atomic layer deposition, and other deposition systems.