Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Sets New 1-Year Low After Insider Selling

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $27.34 and last traded at $27.38, with a volume of 49046 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $27.97.

Specifically, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.67, for a total value of $71,675.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 80,142 shares in the company, valued at $2,297,671.14. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Northland Securities cut their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Benchmark cut their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.14.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 2.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 3.54, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a PE ratio of 20.22 and a beta of 1.17.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.01. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 10.92%. The firm had revenue of $184.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,131,073 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $250,800,000 after purchasing an additional 391,346 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 20.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,216,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $73,428,000 after acquiring an additional 371,221 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 119.3% in the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,458,288 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $68,117,000 after purchasing an additional 793,429 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 37.3% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,175,759 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $38,953,000 after purchasing an additional 319,451 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 969,694 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $32,126,000 after purchasing an additional 185,228 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

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.