Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Shares Down 3.3%

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) shares dropped 3.3% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $35.22 and last traded at $35.23. Approximately 30,904 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 94% from the average daily volume of 509,954 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.42.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VECO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.57.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 5.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 3.24. The company has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -53.01 and a beta of 1.20. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $35.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.03.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The semiconductor company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $173.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.00 million. Veeco Instruments had a negative net margin of 4.56% and a positive return on equity of 11.10%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In other news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.10, for a total transaction of $170,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 67,278 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,294,179.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO William John Miller sold 24,201 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $854,295.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 545,091 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,241,712.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 5,000 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.10, for a total transaction of $170,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 67,278 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,294,179.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 315.4% in the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 4,644 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 3,526 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 5.9% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 520,086 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $14,139,000 after acquiring an additional 29,035 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the first quarter worth about $815,000. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 8.9% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 53,649 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,459,000 after acquiring an additional 4,403 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 48.7% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,558 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $124,000 after acquiring an additional 1,492 shares during the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Veeco Instruments

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.