Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Earns "Hold (C)" Rating from Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Veeco Instruments received a "Hold (C)" rating from Weiss Ratings, with multiple analysts adjusting their ratings on the stock, reflecting a cautious outlook.
• The company's recent earnings report showed a net margin of 8.65% and revenue of $166.10 million for the quarter, beating analysts' expectations but still reflecting a 5.6% year-over-year decline.
• Insider trading activity included CEO William John Miller selling 25,000 shares for approximately $800,000, indicating reduced ownership in the company.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold (c)" rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Weiss Ratings in a report issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

VECO has been the topic of several other research reports. Northland Capmk cut Veeco Instruments from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Northland Securities cut Veeco Instruments from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $30.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday. Benchmark dropped their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered Veeco Instruments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $27.71.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VECO traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $29.74. The company had a trading volume of 1,924,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,177,726. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 3.43 and a current ratio of 5.10. Veeco Instruments has a one year low of $16.92 and a one year high of $34.45. The firm has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.16 and a beta of 1.27. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $25.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.08.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $166.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $151.31 million. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 7.38% and a net margin of 8.65%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Veeco Instruments will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CEO William John Miller sold 25,000 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total value of $800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 514,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,465,376. The trade was a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 3,851 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.00, for a total value of $130,934.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 78,269 shares in the company, valued at $2,661,146. The trade was a 4.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 61,911 shares of company stock valued at $1,781,550 in the last ninety days. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Veeco Instruments by 342.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,807 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 6,817 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Veeco Instruments by 9.8% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,747 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,380,000 after purchasing an additional 6,145 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Veeco Instruments by 8.3% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 176,679 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $3,548,000 after purchasing an additional 13,613 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 4.0% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 341,069 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $6,849,000 after acquiring an additional 13,182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 10,288.7% in the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 13,817 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 13,684 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

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.

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