Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) was the target of a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,580,000 shares, a drop of 15.7% from the February 28th total of 5,430,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 741,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.2 days. Approximately 8.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VECO shares. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price target (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.63, for a total transaction of $69,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,142 shares in the company, valued at $2,076,173.46. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments during the third quarter valued at $529,000. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 4.7% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 170,187 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,706,000 after buying an additional 7,651 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 31.6% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 18,334 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 721.7% during the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 5,341 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 4,691 shares during the period. Finally, Needham Investment Management LLC raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 10.9% during the third quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 677,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $22,446,000 after acquiring an additional 66,500 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 1.5 %

Veeco Instruments stock opened at $20.08 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.98. The company has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of 16.19 and a beta of 1.24. Veeco Instruments has a fifty-two week low of $19.57 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.14). Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 10.28%. Equities analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

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.