Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) CFO John P. Kiernan Sells 2,500 Shares of Stock

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total value of $81,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 82,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,696,608.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

VECO stock opened at $33.33 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $33.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.16. The stock has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.64 and a beta of 1.16. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.63 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $175.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.03 million. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 12.03% and a net margin of 11.83%. Veeco Instruments’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.21 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VECO shares. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com cut Veeco Instruments from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Northland Securities decreased their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.57.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Veeco Instruments by 237.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 1,180 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments during the first quarter worth approximately $99,000. nVerses Capital LLC increased its position in Veeco Instruments by 733.3% during the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments during the second quarter worth approximately $200,000. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments during the first quarter worth approximately $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.