Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Price Target Lowered to $22.00 at Barclays

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) had its price objective reduced by Barclays from $25.00 to $22.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on VECO. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Benchmark lowered their price objective 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.00.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 1.1 %

Veeco Instruments stock opened at $17.81 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $20.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.43. The stock has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of 14.36 and a beta of 1.12. Veeco Instruments has a 1-year low of $16.92 and a 1-year high of $49.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.98 and a quick ratio of 2.69.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last announced its quarterly 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 10.28% and a return on equity of 9.38%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Veeco Instruments will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the 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 owns 72,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,780,455.42. This represents a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Advisor Resource Council purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the first quarter worth about $351,000. Riverwater Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 92,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,862,000 after acquiring an additional 987 shares during the period. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $621,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 12.3% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 223,733 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,493,000 after purchasing an additional 24,577 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 342.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,807 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 6,817 shares during the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.