Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Sets New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock 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

VECO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $35.00 target price (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Friday, February 7th. Benchmark decreased 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 note on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.43.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.99 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.92. The company has a current ratio of 3.98, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total transaction of $61,275.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,642 shares in the company, valued at $1,780,455.42. This trade represents a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position 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 buying an additional 538 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 919 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 396.2% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,295 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in Veeco Instruments by 7.5% in 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 last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Veeco Instruments by 3.5% during the fourth 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. 98.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.