Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Trading Down 2.9% – Here’s What Happened

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) shares dropped 2.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $30.47 and last traded at $30.56. Approximately 295,730 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 55% from the average daily volume of 660,942 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.48.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Northland Securities reduced their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.57.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

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 stock has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.10 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50 day moving average is $33.59 and its 200 day moving average is $38.17.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $175.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.03 million. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 12.03% and a net margin of 11.83%. The business’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.21 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total transaction of $81,575.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 82,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,696,608.46. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VECO. GAMMA Investing LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 1,180 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the first quarter valued at $99,000. nVerses Capital LLC increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 733.3% in the second 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 last quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments during the second quarter worth about $200,000. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the 1st quarter worth about $203,000. 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.