Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Hits New 52-Week Low - Should You Sell?

Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $18.72 and last traded at $18.91, with a volume of 252732 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $20.50.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on VECO. Barclays dropped their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Benchmark dropped their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $35.00 price target (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $32.43.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a PE ratio of 13.99 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.98 and a quick ratio of 2.69. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $22.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.46.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.14). Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 10.28%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.63, for a total value 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 9,391 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 257.4% in 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. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 396.2% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,295 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,034 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 14,886 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 31,609 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $847,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.