Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Hits New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) reached 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

VECO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays reduced their target price on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Benchmark cut their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $35.00 target price (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.43.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.14. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred 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 trade represents a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VECO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Veeco Instruments by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,477,260 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $200,391,000 after purchasing an additional 110,825 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,792,850 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $74,848,000 after acquiring an additional 152,201 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,748,172 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $73,651,000 after acquiring an additional 531,821 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,242,750 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $60,107,000 after acquiring an additional 78,884 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in Veeco Instruments by 1.5% in 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 last quarter. 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.