Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,820,000 shares, a decrease of 15.9% from the September 30th total of 5,730,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 816,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.9 days.

Veeco Instruments Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VECO traded down $0.02 during trading on Monday, hitting $29.24. The company had a trading volume of 300,079 shares, compared to its average volume of 655,870. The stock has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -64.98 and a beta of 1.16. Veeco Instruments has a one year low of $23.63 and a one year high of $49.25. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 2.32.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 12.03% and a net margin of 11.83%. The business had revenue of $175.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.21 earnings per share. Veeco Instruments's revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total transaction of $81,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,642 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,696,608.46. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VECO. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 249.0% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 430,757 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $14,271,000 after purchasing an additional 307,348 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 74.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC now owns 35,295 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,169,000 after purchasing an additional 15,075 shares in the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 67,809 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,202,000 after purchasing an additional 10,011 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 3,213.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,804 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 4,659 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VECO shares. StockNews.com downgraded Veeco Instruments from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Veeco Instruments from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Veeco Instruments from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $45.57.

About Veeco Instruments

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.