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

Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $42.14.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com raised Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Benchmark dropped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Veeco Instruments Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of Veeco Instruments stock opened at $27.74 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 3.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Veeco Instruments has a 12-month low of $25.52 and a 12-month high of $49.25. The business’s 50 day moving average is $29.16 and its 200-day moving average is $35.74.

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

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 130.6% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 752 shares during the last quarter. 272 Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. KBC Group NV boosted 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 valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC increased its position in Veeco Instruments by 733.3% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 116.2% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.