Veeco Instruments’ (VECO) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has a $35.00 price target on the semiconductor company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $40.00.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on VECO. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company 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 report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.00.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 3.4 %

VECO opened at $24.38 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a PE ratio of 18.06 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.38. 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 52 week low of $23.24 and a 52 week high of $49.25.

Insider Activity

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.63, for a total value of $69,075.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,142 shares in the company, valued at $2,076,173.46. This trade represents a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,676,000. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 50.3% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,640,649 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $87,485,000 after acquiring an additional 883,815 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,373,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 371,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 37.3% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,175,759 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $38,953,000 after purchasing an additional 319,451 shares during the period. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.