Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Cut 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 report issued on Wednesday.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Northland Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup lowered shares of Veeco Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.57.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

VECO stock traded up $0.30 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $32.47. The company had a trading volume of 549,658 shares, compared to its average volume of 662,571. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -72.16 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a 50 day moving average of $34.56 and a 200 day moving average of $38.27. Veeco Instruments has a fifty-two week low of $23.63 and a fifty-two week 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.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The business had revenue of $175.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.21 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict 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 stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 85,142 shares in the company, valued at $2,472,523.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VECO. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Veeco Instruments by 237.4% in the second 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 lifted its position 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. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Veeco Instruments in the second quarter worth $200,000. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC bought a new position in Veeco Instruments in the second quarter worth $210,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

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.