Needham & Company LLC Has Lowered Expectations for Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Stock Price

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) had its price target cut by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $35.00 to $29.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target suggests a potential upside of 22.62% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup upgraded Veeco Instruments from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.86.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

VECO stock opened at $23.65 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 3.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a PE ratio of 17.52 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50 day moving average of $26.74 and a 200-day moving average of $30.12. Veeco Instruments has a 12-month low of $23.00 and a 12-month high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.14). Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 10.92%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Veeco Instruments will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 72,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,780,455.42. The trade was a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VECO. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 257.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 919 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 130.6% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 752 shares during the period. 272 Capital LP purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments during the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. KBC Group NV increased 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 worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. 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.