Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Price Target Lowered to $22.00 at Barclays

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) had its price target cut by Barclays from $25.00 to $22.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the semiconductor company's stock. Barclays's price objective suggests a potential upside of 14.64% from the company's previous close.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on VECO. StockNews.com raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $35.00 price target (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Benchmark cut their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.00.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

VECO traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $19.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 69,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 731,590. The company has a current ratio of 3.98, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.29. The stock has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.50 and a beta of 1.12. Veeco Instruments has a twelve month low of $16.92 and a twelve month high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.14). Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 9.38%. Research analysts expect 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 business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total value of $61,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,642 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,780,455.42. The trade was a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 919 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 396.2% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,295 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. 272 Capital LP bought a new position in Veeco Instruments in the third quarter valued at about $50,000. KBC Group NV increased its position in Veeco Instruments by 75.9% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,672 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,584 shares during the period. Finally, Sciencast Management LP bought a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the 4th quarter worth about $204,000. 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.