Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) hit a new 52-week low on Thursday . The company traded as low as $22.60 and last traded at $22.73, with a volume of 77716 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $23.54.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup cut their target price on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Benchmark dropped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays lowered 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.43.

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 1.6 %

The company has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.94 and a beta of 1.13. 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 has a fifty day moving average price of $25.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.10.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 9.38%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,642 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 14.8% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings 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 during the period. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 46.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,088 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 666 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 11.0% in the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,099 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 919 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.