Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Rating Lowered to "Sell" at StockNews.com

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on VECO. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $35.00 price objective (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Benchmark lowered their target price on Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued 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 price target of $32.43.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Veeco Instruments stock traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $24.98. 714,487 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 737,780. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $26.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.66. The firm has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a current ratio of 3.54. Veeco Instruments has a 52 week low of $23.00 and a 52 week high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.14). Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 10.92% and a net margin of 11.34%. On average, analysts expect that Veeco Instruments will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 $1,780,455.42. This represents a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VECO. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 257.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 919 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 130.6% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 752 shares during the last quarter. 272 Capital LP acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the third quarter valued at about $50,000. KBC Group NV grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 46.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,088 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Veeco Instruments by 14.8% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.