Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Given New $30.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) had its price target decreased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $35.00 to $30.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Benchmark decreased their target price on Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Citigroup lowered shares of Veeco Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Northland Securities dropped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.14.

Veeco Instruments Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ VECO traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $28.68. 693,726 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 661,569. Veeco Instruments has a 12 month low of $26.23 and a 12 month high of $49.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 2.32. The company has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.54 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.45.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 11.13% and a net margin of 11.34%. The business had revenue of $175.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.21 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Veeco Instruments will post 1.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total value of $81,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,696,608.46. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VECO. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 130.6% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 752 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 46.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,088 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 237.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments during the 1st quarter valued at about $99,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 733.3% in the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the period. 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.