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

Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.71.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Barclays upped their target price on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on Veeco Instruments from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 target price (up from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th.

Veeco Instruments Trading Down 3.3 %

VECO opened at $46.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -103.55 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Veeco Instruments has a 12 month low of $23.63 and a 12 month high of $48.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $39.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.18.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $174.48 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.00 million. Veeco Instruments had a positive return on equity of 11.97% and a negative net margin of 2.51%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veeco Instruments news, CEO William John Miller sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total transaction of $1,145,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 515,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,671,325.29. The sale 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 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total value of $1,145,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 515,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,671,325.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.39, for a total value of $108,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,026.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,500 shares of company stock worth $1,405,055. 2.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 5.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,131,073 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $250,800,000 after acquiring an additional 391,346 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,039,207 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $113,542,000 after buying an additional 41,575 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,645,701 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $82,096,000 after purchasing an additional 53,715 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,326,385 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $72,189,000 after purchasing an additional 87,605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Veeco Instruments by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,705,572 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $52,924,000 after acquiring an additional 135,687 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.