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

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.63, for a total value of $69,075.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,076,173.46. This trade represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VECO. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 311,886 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $10,333,000 after acquiring an additional 2,583 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter valued at $295,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter valued at $327,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,088 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 95.8% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 32,732 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,084,000 after acquiring an additional 16,012 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ VECO opened at $21.90 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.66 and a beta of 1.24. Veeco Instruments has a 52-week low of $20.05 and a 52-week high of $49.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.98. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $24.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.77.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VECO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $35.00 price target (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Benchmark reduced their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.43.

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.