Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Hits New 12-Month Low Following Insider Selling

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

Specifically, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.67, for a total transaction of $71,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 80,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,297,671.14. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VECO. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Northland Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Benchmark reduced their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.14.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 2.1 %

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $30.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.38. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 3.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27 and a beta of 1.17.

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

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mirabella Financial Services LLP acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments in the third quarter worth approximately $3,702,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 40.5% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 751,003 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $24,880,000 after buying an additional 216,616 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 23.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 969,694 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $32,126,000 after buying an additional 185,228 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 37.3% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,175,759 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $38,953,000 after buying an additional 319,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments in the third quarter worth approximately $529,000. 98.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.