Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Downgraded to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Wednesday morning.

Several other analysts also recently commented on VECO. Northland Securities lowered their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Citigroup downgraded Veeco Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.57.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VECO opened at $29.23 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.73 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. Veeco Instruments has a fifty-two week low of $23.63 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.01.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.42 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total value of $81,575.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,696,608.46. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VECO. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 130.6% during 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 during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 237.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments during the first quarter valued at approximately $99,000. nVerses Capital LLC increased its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 733.3% during 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 during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 3,213.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,804 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 4,659 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

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.