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

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $39.71.

Several research firms have issued reports on VECO. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Benchmark cut their target price 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. Citigroup raised Veeco Instruments from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VECO opened at $25.38 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $27.28 and a 200-day moving average of $31.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.80 and a beta of 1.15. Veeco Instruments has a fifty-two week low of $23.24 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $184.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.57 million. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 10.92% and a net margin of 11.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Veeco Instruments will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.63, for a total transaction of $69,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,076,173.46. This trade represents a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VECO. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 50.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,640,649 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $87,485,000 after purchasing an additional 883,815 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted 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 valued at $73,428,000 after buying an additional 371,221 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 1.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,091,995 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $69,308,000 after buying an additional 30,008 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,321 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,314,000 after acquiring an additional 22,850 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 37.3% in the 3rd 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. 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.