Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Hits New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $25.86 and last traded at $25.87, with a volume of 12387 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $26.22.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VECO. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price 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. Northland Securities dropped their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Benchmark reduced their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.14.

Veeco Instruments Trading Down 1.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a current ratio of 3.54. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of 19.16 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.14.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $184.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.57 million. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 10.92% and a net margin of 11.34%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions 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 Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total transaction of $81,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,696,608.46. This represents a 2.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 7,500 shares of company stock worth $225,850 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,321 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,314,000 after purchasing an additional 22,850 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,965,000. Zacks Investment Management boosted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 2.9% in the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 87,249 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,891,000 after purchasing an additional 2,431 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,091,995 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $69,308,000 after purchasing an additional 30,008 shares during the period. Finally, Petrus Trust Company LTA raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 317.9% during the 3rd quarter. Petrus Trust Company LTA now owns 22,462 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $744,000 after purchasing an additional 17,087 shares during the period. 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.