Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on VECO. Citigroup downgraded Veeco Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Northland Securities lowered their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.57.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

VECO stock opened at $30.57 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -67.93 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a current ratio of 3.52. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.07. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The company had revenue of $175.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.03 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.21 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total value of $81,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,696,608.46. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 23.7% during the third quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 71,783 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,378,000 after purchasing an additional 13,764 shares during the period. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter valued at $292,000. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 47.4% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 28,001 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $928,000 after buying an additional 9,008 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 116.2% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,626 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $120,000 after acquiring an additional 1,949 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC boosted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 21.7% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 31,886 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,489,000 after acquiring an additional 5,676 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.