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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on VECO. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $35.00 price target (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $32.43.

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ VECO traded up $0.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $21.43. The stock had a trading volume of 877,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 658,135. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 3.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of 17.28 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $25.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.87. Veeco Instruments has a twelve month low of $20.12 and a twelve month high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.14). Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 9.38%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total value of $61,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,642 shares in the company, valued at $1,780,455.42. This represents a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of VECO. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Veeco Instruments by 257.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 919 shares in the last quarter. 272 Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the third quarter worth about $50,000. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 46.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,088 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 3,213.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,804 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 4,659 shares during the period. 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.