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 research report sent to investors on Wednesday.

VECO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Northland Securities lowered their target price on Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target 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. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.57.

Veeco Instruments Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of VECO stock opened at $29.23 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.73 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $33.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.01. Veeco Instruments has a 12-month low of $23.63 and a 12-month 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 the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.21 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments will post 1.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 82,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,696,608.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VECO. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 752 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 237.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC grew its stake in Veeco Instruments by 733.3% in the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Veeco Instruments in the first quarter worth $99,000. Finally, Ausbil Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments during the second quarter valued at $200,000. Hedge funds and other 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.