Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Hits New 1-Year Low on Insider Selling

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $23.00 and last traded at $23.37, with a volume of 15704 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $23.68.

Specifically, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total value of $61,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,780,455.42. This trade represents a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Benchmark decreased 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. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 target price (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.00.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $26.84 and its 200 day moving average is $30.17. The company has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.46 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 3.54, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,477,260 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $200,391,000 after buying an additional 110,825 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 50.3% in the 3rd 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 during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 20.1% in the 3rd 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 during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,091,995 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $69,308,000 after purchasing an additional 30,008 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,321 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,314,000 after purchasing an additional 22,850 shares during the period. 98.46% of the stock is owned by 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.