Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,820,000 shares, a drop of 15.9% from the September 30th total of 5,730,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 816,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.9 days.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of VECO traded up $0.61 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $29.85. The company had a trading volume of 103,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 653,232. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $32.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.80. The company has a quick ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -64.98 and a beta of 1.16. Veeco Instruments has a 52-week low of $23.63 and a 52-week high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 12.03% and a net margin of 11.83%. The firm had revenue of $175.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.21 EPS. Veeco Instruments’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Veeco Instruments will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.04, for a total value of $72,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 85,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,472,523.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 130.6% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 237.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 1,180 shares in the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the 1st quarter valued at $99,000. nVerses Capital LLC increased its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 733.3% in the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 14.8% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup lowered shares of Veeco Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Veeco Instruments from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Northland Securities cut their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.57.

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.