Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Price Target Lowered to $31.00 at Benchmark

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) had its price objective trimmed by Benchmark from $38.00 to $31.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com raised Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price target (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.43.

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of VECO stock opened at $24.27 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.98 and a beta of 1.13. 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $26.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.08.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last posted its earnings results 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 11.34% and a return on equity of 10.92%. Research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the company’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 value of $69,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,076,173.46. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 257.4% during 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. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 130.6% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares during the period. 272 Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 46.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,088 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.