Short Interest in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Drops By 16.3%

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) was the target of a large decline in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,430,000 shares, a decline of 16.3% from the February 13th total of 6,490,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 710,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.6 days. Approximately 9.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of VECO opened at $21.90 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $24.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.77. Veeco Instruments has a twelve month low of $20.05 and a twelve month high of $49.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of 17.66 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.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 9,391 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 538 shares during 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 increased its position in shares of 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 worth $4,419,000 after purchasing an additional 24,154 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 125.2% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 349,785 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,374,000 after purchasing an additional 194,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter worth approximately $377,000. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Benchmark cut their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $35.00 price target (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.43.

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.