Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $39.71.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VECO. Citigroup upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Benchmark reduced their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of VECO opened at $25.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 3.54 and a quick ratio of 2.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $27.16 and a 200-day moving average of $30.70. The company has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a PE ratio of 19.25 and a beta of 1.13. Veeco Instruments has a one year low of $23.24 and a one year high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.01. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 10.92%. The firm had revenue of $184.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Veeco Instruments will post 1.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.67, for a total transaction of $71,675.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 80,142 shares in the company, valued at $2,297,671.14. The trade was a 3.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 257.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 919 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 130.6% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares during the period. 272 Capital LP purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the third quarter worth about $50,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 46.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,088 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 116.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,626 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.