Veeco Instruments Inc. $VECO Shares Sold by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 43.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,885 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 15,082 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $1,032,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in VECO. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $728,127,000. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the second quarter valued at approximately $156,557,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the second quarter valued at approximately $134,434,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the second quarter valued at approximately $65,836,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the second quarter worth $57,727,000. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CFO John Kiernan sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.05, for a total value of $1,786,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 68,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,512,342.10. This trade represents a 33.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO William Miller sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.18, for a total transaction of $10,836,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 169,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,187,302.60. The trade was a 54.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 11.8%

Shares of VECO stock opened at $37.19 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.97 and a beta of 1.41. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.00 and a 1 year high of $86.63. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.89. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $209.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $213.33 million. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 3.62% and a return on equity of 3.81%. Veeco Instruments’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.

Veeco Instruments Company Profile

Veeco Instruments Inc (NASDAQ: VECO) develops and manufactures specialized equipment used in the production of semiconductors and other advanced electronic devices. Its systems help customers deposit, etch, pattern, anneal and otherwise process thin films and materials at the wafer level.

The company’s product portfolio includes metal-organic chemical vapor deposition systems, molecular beam epitaxy equipment, ion beam etch and deposition systems, laser annealing systems, and related process-control and automation technologies.