Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Northland Securities dropped their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.57.

Veeco Instruments Trading Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ VECO opened at $29.63 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of -65.84 and a beta of 1.16. Veeco Instruments has a 12 month low of $23.63 and a 12 month high of $49.25. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $33.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.04. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $175.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.03 million. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 12.03% and a net margin of 11.83%. The business’s revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.21 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

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

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 67,588 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,156,000 after buying an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC lifted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 1.9% during the first quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 21,350 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 3.1% in the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 18,675 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $657,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 2.2% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 28,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,331,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.3% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 49,310 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,734,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.