Barclays Lowers Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Price Target to $25.00

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by Barclays from $30.00 to $25.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the semiconductor company's stock. Barclays's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 1.34% from the company's previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on VECO. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $35.00 target price (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $33.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Benchmark decreased their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.43.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 1.6 %

VECO traded up $0.40 on Thursday, hitting $24.67. 885,723 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 595,984. The company has a current ratio of 3.54, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.27 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $26.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.83. Veeco Instruments has a twelve month low of $23.00 and a twelve month high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 10.92% and a net margin of 11.34%. On average, equities analysts predict that Veeco Instruments will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.63, for a total transaction of $69,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,142 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,076,173.46. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 made changes to their positions in VECO. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in 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. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 130.6% in the third 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 last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 11.0% in the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,099 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 919 shares during 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.