StockNews.com Upgrades Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) to “Hold”

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other research firms have also commented on VECO. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on 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 reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup lowered Veeco Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Northland Securities lowered their price target on Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.57.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

VECO opened at $29.97 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $32.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.70. Veeco Instruments has a 12-month low of $23.63 and a 12-month high of $49.25. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -66.60 and a beta of 1.16.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.21 earnings per share. Veeco Instruments’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Veeco Instruments will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.04, for a total transaction of $72,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 85,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,472,523.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company 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 raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 130.6% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 237.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 733.3% in the 2nd 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 1st quarter worth $99,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the period. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.