Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Receives $39.71 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation 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.

VECO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Benchmark decreased their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com raised Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Citigroup raised 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. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of VECO opened at $28.15 on Tuesday. Veeco Instruments has a 1 year low of $25.52 and a 1 year high of $49.25. 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 simple moving average of $27.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.47. The firm has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.85 and a beta of 1.15.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $184.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.57 million. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 10.92%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.67, for a total value of $71,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 80,142 shares in the company, valued at $2,297,671.14. This trade represents a 3.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VECO. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 50.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,640,649 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $87,485,000 after purchasing an additional 883,815 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 119.3% in the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,458,288 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $68,117,000 after acquiring an additional 793,429 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 20.1% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,216,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $73,428,000 after acquiring an additional 371,221 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 37.3% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,175,759 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $38,953,000 after acquiring an additional 319,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 249.0% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 430,757 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $14,271,000 after purchasing an additional 307,348 shares during 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.