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

StockNews.com lowered shares of Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Thursday morning.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Benchmark decreased their price target on Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. 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. Oppenheimer cut their price objective 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. Finally, Northland Securities lowered their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.14.

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 1.8 %

Veeco Instruments stock opened at $27.63 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $30.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.62. Veeco Instruments has a 52 week low of $25.52 and a 52 week high of $49.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a PE ratio of 20.47 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 3.54, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total transaction of $81,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 82,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,696,608.46. The trade was a 2.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 7,500 shares of company stock valued at $225,850 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 280.7% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 38,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,370,000 after buying an additional 28,719 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 5.6% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 598,014 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,933,000 after acquiring an additional 31,482 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,219,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 122.9% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 63,325 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,226,000 after purchasing an additional 34,921 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 119.3% in the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,458,288 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $68,117,000 after purchasing an additional 793,429 shares during the period. 98.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.