Insider Selling: Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) CFO Sells 2,500 Shares of Stock

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total transaction of $61,275.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,780,455.42. The trade was a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 3.8 %

VECO traded down $0.94 on Tuesday, hitting $23.68. The company had a trading volume of 1,182,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 664,798. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 3.54 and a quick ratio of 2.41. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.24 and a 52-week high of $49.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.54 and a beta of 1.13.

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VECO. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter worth about $29,676,000. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 50.3% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,640,649 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $87,485,000 after purchasing an additional 883,815 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,373,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $73,428,000 after purchasing an additional 371,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $38,953,000 after purchasing an additional 319,451 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on VECO shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Benchmark dropped their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 target price (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Three 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.00.

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.