Insider Selling: Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Director Sells $80,000.00 in Stock

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Director Mary Jane Raymond sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total transaction of $80,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $958,680. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:VECO opened at $40.33 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $44.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.04. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.00 and a 12-month high of $86.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 100.82 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 3.87, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $209.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $213.33 million. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 3.62% and a return on equity of 3.81%. The company’s revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VECO. Northland Securities upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $66.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered Veeco Instruments from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Veeco Instruments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 7th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $63.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VECO. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 62.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,415,255 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $73,452,000 after acquiring an additional 546,707 shares during the last quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $301,000. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $260,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 30.9% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 274,406 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $13,287,000 after acquiring an additional 64,717 shares during the period. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 39.8% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 34,508 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,791,000 after buying an additional 9,817 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Veeco Instruments Company Profile

Veeco Instruments designs and manufactures process equipment used to make semiconductors and other advanced materials. Its systems support thin-film deposition, etching, lithography and related manufacturing processes. The company’s product portfolio includes metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), ion beam and laser-processing systems. These tools serve applications in compound semiconductors, advanced packaging, data storage and scientific research. Veeco serves customers around the world through its sales and service operations.