The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Price Target to $30.00

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) had its price objective reduced by The Goldman Sachs Group from $35.00 to $30.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on VECO. StockNews.com upgraded Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Benchmark cut their target price on Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup downgraded Veeco Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Northland Securities cut their price target on Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.14.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VECO traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $28.68. 693,726 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 661,569. Veeco Instruments has a 1 year low of $26.23 and a 1 year high of $49.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $31.21 and a 200 day moving average of $37.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a current ratio of 3.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.54 and a beta of 1.17.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $176.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.21 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VECO. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 130.6% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 666 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 237.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180 shares in the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments in the first quarter worth approximately $99,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 733.3% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.