Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Hits New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) reached a new 52-week low on Friday . The stock traded as low as $19.96 and last traded at $20.07, with a volume of 128576 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.91.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on VECO shares. Oppenheimer reissued 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. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup cut their price target on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Benchmark reduced their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.43.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 2.6 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $23.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.21. 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 market cap of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.43 and a beta of 1.24.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.14). Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 9.38%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,076,173.46. The trade was a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VECO. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Veeco Instruments by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 9,391 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 538 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 257.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 919 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position 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 worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 31,609 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pitcairn Co. grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 13,444 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares during the period. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.