Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Stock: Insider Mary Jane Raymond Sells 2,000 Shares

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Director Mary Jane Raymond sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $80,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 23,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $958,680. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 3.5%

Shares of Veeco Instruments stock opened at $40.93 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 3.87 and a quick ratio of 2.69. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.00 and a 1-year high of $86.63. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $44.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.00. The company has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.32 and a beta of 1.41.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $209.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $213.33 million. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 3.81% and a net margin of 3.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $63.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 6th. Northland Securities upgraded shares of 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. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Veeco Instruments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. USS Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter valued at about $301,000. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 3rd quarter valued at about $260,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 274,406 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,287,000 after purchasing an additional 64,717 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 39.8% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 34,508 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,791,000 after purchasing an additional 9,817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 277,043 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $14,379,000 after purchasing an additional 18,177 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

About Veeco Instruments

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.