Needham & Company LLC Raises Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Price Target to $46.00

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) had its target price increased by Needham & Company LLC from $43.00 to $46.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Benchmark lifted their target price on Veeco Instruments from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $38.43.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Veeco Instruments stock opened at $39.29 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $35.34 and a 200-day moving average of $31.91. The company has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -60.45 and a beta of 1.18. Veeco Instruments has a 1 year low of $19.05 and a 1 year high of $40.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 2.15.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The semiconductor company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $173.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.00 million. Veeco Instruments had a negative net margin of 4.56% and a positive return on equity of 11.10%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Veeco Instruments will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veeco Instruments news, CEO William John Miller sold 24,201 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $854,295.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 545,091 shares in the company, valued at $19,241,712.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.10, for a total transaction of $170,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 67,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,294,179.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO William John Miller sold 24,201 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $854,295.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 545,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,241,712.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VECO. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 1,311.0% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,284 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the first quarter worth $99,000. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.