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

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on VECO. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Northland Securities lowered their price target on Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup lowered Veeco Instruments from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $45.57.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 4.0 %

Veeco Instruments stock traded down $1.19 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $28.78. The stock had a trading volume of 565,968 shares, compared to its average volume of 660,682. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $31.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.64. Veeco Instruments has a 1-year low of $23.63 and a 1-year high of $49.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -63.96 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a current ratio of 3.52.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $175.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.21 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Veeco Instruments will post 1.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 130.6% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 237.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 1st quarter valued at $99,000. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 733.3% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 14.8% during the 3rd 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. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.