Citigroup Lowers Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Price Target to $30.00

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) had its target price lowered by research analysts at Citigroup from $33.00 to $30.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Citigroup’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 24.97% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on VECO. Oppenheimer reiterated 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. Benchmark lowered their target price on Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Barclays decreased their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.43.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

VECO traded up $0.36 on Thursday, hitting $24.01. 1,151,233 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 687,493. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 17.82 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50 day moving average of $26.74 and a 200-day moving average of $30.12. Veeco Instruments has a 12-month low of $23.00 and a 12-month high of $49.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 3.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.14). Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 10.92%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total value of $61,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VECO. Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 47.4% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 28,001 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $928,000 after acquiring an additional 9,008 shares during the last quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the third quarter worth $292,000. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 23.7% in the third quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 71,783 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,378,000 after acquiring an additional 13,764 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 42.6% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 175,073 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,800,000 after acquiring an additional 52,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 130.6% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 752 shares during the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.