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

Key Points

• Director Mary Jane Raymond sold 2,000 Veeco shares on November 9 at an average price of $40, for $80,000. She retained 23,967 shares after reducing her position by 7.7%.
• Veeco’s latest quarter missed analyst expectations: EPS was $0.36 versus $0.43 forecast, and revenue was $209.38 million versus $213.33 million expected. Revenue nevertheless rose 26.2% year over year.
• Shares traded at $39.56, while analysts’ consensus rating was Hold with a $50 price target. Recent analyst opinions ranged from Buy to Hold.

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) Director Mary Jane Raymond sold 2,000 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $80,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 23,967 shares of the company's stock, valued at $958,680. The trade was a 7.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VECO traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $39.56. The company had a trading volume of 1,131,405 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,096,636. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 3.93 and a quick ratio of 2.69. The business's 50 day moving average price is $44.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.92. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.00 and a 1-year high of $86.63. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a PE ratio of 98.90 and a beta of 1.41.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.07). Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 3.85% and a net margin of 3.62%. The firm had revenue of $209.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $213.33 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VECO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings cut Veeco Instruments from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Veeco Instruments from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Citigroup reduced their target price on Veeco Instruments from $63.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Northland Securities raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $66.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $50.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Tema ETFs LLC acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the second quarter worth $39,000. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Veeco Instruments by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 97,050 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $3,286,000 after buying an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments in the second quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the second quarter worth approximately $69,000. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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