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

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $19.96 and last traded at $20.07, with a volume of 128576 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.91.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.43.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 2.6 %

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.43 and a beta of 1.24.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total transaction of $61,275.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,780,455.42. The trade was a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $529,000. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 4.7% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 170,187 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,706,000 after acquiring an additional 7,651 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Veeco Instruments by 20.1% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,216,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $73,428,000 after acquiring an additional 371,221 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 31.6% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 18,334 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $607,000 after acquiring an additional 4,400 shares during the period. Finally, PDT Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,109,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.