Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

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

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Northland Securities reduced their price target 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. Benchmark lowered their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.14.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 0.9 %

VECO stock opened at $27.87 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 3.54 and a quick ratio of 2.41. The firm has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a PE ratio of 21.13 and a beta of 1.17. Veeco Instruments has a 12 month low of $25.52 and a 12 month high of $49.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.55.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.01. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 10.92% and a net margin of 11.34%. The company had revenue of $184.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total value of $81,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 82,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,696,608.46. This trade represents a 2.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,500 shares of company stock worth $225,850. 2.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 130.6% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 752 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,088 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 1,180 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 14.8% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.