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

Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $43.14.

Several research firms recently issued reports on VECO. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Citigroup cut shares of Veeco Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Dennis Thomas St sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.72, for a total transaction of $150,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 51,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,956,196.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO William John Miller sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total value of $1,145,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 515,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,671,325.29. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Dennis Thomas St sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.72, for a total transaction of $150,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 51,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,956,196.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 39,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,526,205. 2.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 29,810 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $925,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC lifted its position in Veeco Instruments by 1.9% in the first quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 21,350 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $751,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. lifted its position in Veeco Instruments by 3.1% in the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 18,675 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $657,000 after buying an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its position in Veeco Instruments by 1.3% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 49,310 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,734,000 after buying an additional 639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Veeco Instruments by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 23,216 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $720,000 after buying an additional 918 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 5.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ VECO opened at $42.48 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a current ratio of 3.05. Veeco Instruments has a 12 month low of $23.63 and a 12 month high of $49.25. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.72.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. Veeco Instruments had a negative net margin of 2.51% and a positive return on equity of 11.97%. The business had revenue of $174.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.00 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Veeco Instruments will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

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.