Insider Selling: Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) CFO Sells $61,275.00 in Stock

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total value of $61,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,780,455.42. This trade represents a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VECO opened at $24.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.98 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 3.54, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.00 and a 1-year high of $49.25. The business’s 50 day moving average is $26.67 and its 200-day moving average is $30.08.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.14). Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 10.92% and a net margin of 11.34%. Equities research analysts predict that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on VECO shares. Benchmark dropped their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.43.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VECO. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,676,000. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 50.3% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,640,649 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $87,485,000 after buying an additional 883,815 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter worth approximately $14,373,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 20.1% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,216,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $73,428,000 after buying an additional 371,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 37.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

About Veeco Instruments

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.