Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Wednesday morning.

VECO has been the topic of a number of other reports. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Oppenheimer lifted 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. 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, Citigroup downgraded Veeco Instruments from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. 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, Veeco Instruments currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $45.57.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 1.6 %

VECO opened at $32.82 on Wednesday. Veeco Instruments has a fifty-two week low of $23.63 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25. The business has a 50-day moving average of $34.42 and a 200-day moving average of $38.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 2.32. The company has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a PE ratio of -72.93 and a beta of 1.16.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The company had revenue of $175.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments will post 1.2 EPS 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 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 owns 85,142 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 237.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 1,180 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 733.3% in the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the 1st quarter valued at $99,000. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the 2nd quarter valued at $200,000. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the 2nd quarter valued at $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.