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

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) 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 value of $61,275.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,780,455.42. This trade represents a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Veeco Instruments Trading Down 3.8 %

NASDAQ:VECO opened at $23.68 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.54 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. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.24 and a 12 month high of $49.25. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.17.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on VECO. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $35.00 target price (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup raised Veeco Instruments from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Benchmark lowered their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.00.

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,477,260 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $200,391,000 after purchasing an additional 110,825 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 50.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,640,649 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $87,485,000 after buying an additional 883,815 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 20.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,216,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $73,428,000 after buying an additional 371,221 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,091,995 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $69,308,000 after acquiring an additional 30,008 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 22,850 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

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.