Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Hits New 52-Week Low Following Insider Selling

Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $27.34 and last traded at $27.38, with a volume of 49046 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $27.97.

Specifically, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.67, for a total value of $71,675.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,142 shares in the company, valued at $2,297,671.14. The trade was a 3.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com raised Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Northland Securities dropped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Benchmark reduced their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.14.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 3.54, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.23 and a beta of 1.17.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.01. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 10.92%. The business had revenue of $184.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.57 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 130.6% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 46.8% during the third 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. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 237.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 733.3% in the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.