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

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

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on VECO. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup lowered shares of Veeco Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, July 15th. Benchmark decreased their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Northland Securities decreased their price objective 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.14.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 2.0 %

Veeco Instruments stock traded down $0.56 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $28.12. 725,338 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 661,865. Veeco Instruments has a 1 year low of $27.06 and a 1 year high of $49.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.83 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 3.54 and a quick ratio of 2.32. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $30.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.43.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.01. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 10.92%. The firm had revenue of $184.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Veeco Instruments will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total value of $81,575.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,642 shares in the company, valued at $2,696,608.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 3rd quarter worth about $529,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 165.0% during the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 370,917 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $12,288,000 after buying an additional 230,971 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,754 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 2,231 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,368,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 47.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 8,922 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 2,853 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently 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.