Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Reaches New 1-Year Low - What's Next?

Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $24.62 and last traded at $24.59, with a volume of 49477 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $25.91.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $33.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Benchmark lowered their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $39.71.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

The company's 50-day moving average is $27.47 and its 200-day moving average is $31.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.77 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 3.54 and a quick ratio of 2.41.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $184.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.57 million. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 10.92%. Veeco Instruments's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.63, for a total transaction of $69,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,142 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,076,173.46. The trade was a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VECO. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Veeco Instruments by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 30,598 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,429,000 after purchasing an additional 3,337 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the second quarter worth about $320,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 57.2% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 75,551 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $3,529,000 after buying an additional 27,476 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 33.3% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 59,986 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,802,000 after buying an additional 14,991 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC lifted its position in Veeco Instruments by 21.7% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 31,886 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,489,000 after acquiring an additional 5,676 shares in the last quarter. 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.