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

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total transaction of $61,275.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Veeco Instruments stock traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $24.67. 885,723 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 595,984. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.00 and a twelve month high of $49.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.27 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.92. The company has a current ratio of 3.54, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.14). Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 10.92% and a net margin of 11.34%. Research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.12 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on VECO shares. Barclays lowered 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. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $35.00 price target (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Benchmark lowered 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. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.43.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 257.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 919 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 752 shares during the period. 272 Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 46.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,088 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 116.2% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,626 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $120,000 after acquiring an additional 1,949 shares during the period. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.