Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Price Target Lowered to $30.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group from $35.00 to $30.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the semiconductor company's stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price objective points to a potential upside of 3.16% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research analysts have also commented on VECO. Northland Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Benchmark dropped their target price on Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup cut Veeco Instruments from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.14.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VECO traded down $1.02 on Thursday, reaching $29.08. The company had a trading volume of 971,256 shares, compared to its average volume of 661,420. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a PE ratio of 20.60 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Veeco Instruments has a 52-week low of $26.23 and a 52-week high of $49.25. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $31.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.51.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $175.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $176.03 million. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 12.03%. Veeco Instruments's revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.21 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Veeco Instruments will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 shares were sold at an average price of $29.04, for a total transaction of $72,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 85,142 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,472,523.68. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.3% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 49,310 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,734,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 45.4% in the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 12,818 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 1st quarter worth $217,000. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,579,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 1st quarter valued at about $99,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

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.