Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Stock Price

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) had its price target reduced by research analysts at Citigroup from $33.00 to $30.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the semiconductor company's stock. Citigroup's price objective suggests a potential upside of 21.61% from the stock's previous close.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on VECO. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $35.00 price target (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Benchmark cut their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.43.

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 1.6 %

VECO traded up $0.40 on Thursday, hitting $24.67. The company had a trading volume of 885,723 shares, compared to its average volume of 595,984. The firm has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.27 and a beta of 1.13. Veeco Instruments has a 1 year low of $23.00 and a 1 year high of $49.25. The company's fifty day moving average price is $26.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.83. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.14). Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 10.92%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Veeco Instruments will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total transaction of $61,275.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,780,455.42. This represents a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,477,260 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $200,391,000 after purchasing an additional 110,825 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,792,850 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $74,848,000 after purchasing an additional 152,201 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,748,172 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $73,651,000 after purchasing an additional 531,821 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,242,750 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $60,107,000 after purchasing an additional 78,884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 20.1% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,216,351 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $73,428,000 after purchasing an additional 371,221 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Veeco Instruments

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.