Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Price Target Raised to $55.00 at Oppenheimer

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) had its price target hoisted by Oppenheimer from $45.00 to $55.00 in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on VECO. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $42.14.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of VECO opened at $46.76 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 3.05 and a quick ratio of 2.02. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $40.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.81. Veeco Instruments has a 12 month low of $23.63 and a 12 month high of $48.48.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veeco Instruments news, Director Dennis Thomas St sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.72, for a total value of $150,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 51,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,956,196.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.39, for a total value of $108,475.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,167 shares in the company, valued at $94,026.13. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Dennis Thomas St sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.72, for a total value of $150,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 51,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,956,196.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,405,055. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1,311.0% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,284 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,193 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $99,000. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.