Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) PT Raised to $35.00 at Barclays

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) had its price objective upped by stock analysts at Barclays from $33.00 to $35.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Barclays‘s target price points to a potential downside of 8.06% from the stock’s current price.

VECO has been the subject of several other reports. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Veeco Instruments from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Veeco Instruments from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.00.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

VECO stock opened at $38.07 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.96. The company has a current ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Veeco Instruments has a 12-month low of $20.42 and a 12-month high of $40.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a PE ratio of -58.57 and a beta of 1.18.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.09. Veeco Instruments had a positive return on equity of 11.10% and a negative net margin of 4.56%. The firm had revenue of $173.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.00 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Veeco Instruments news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.10, for a total value of $170,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 67,278 shares in the company, valued at $2,294,179.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Veeco Instruments news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 5,000 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.10, for a total transaction of $170,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $854,295.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 545,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,241,712.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VECO. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 0.8% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 485,924 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,659,000 after purchasing an additional 3,768 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 25.6% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 11,507 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 2,347 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 202.0% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 28,122 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $755,000 after buying an additional 18,810 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 3.7% during the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 16,723 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $470,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Veeco Instruments by 28.3% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,543 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.