Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Hits New 12-Month High at $47.25

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $47.25 and last traded at $46.93, with a volume of 22596 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.18.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VECO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up previously from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Veeco Instruments from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.71.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a fifty day moving average of $39.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.10.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. Veeco Instruments had a positive return on equity of 11.97% and a negative net margin of 2.51%. The company had revenue of $174.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.00 million. On average, analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CEO William John Miller sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total transaction of $1,145,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 515,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,671,325.29. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.39, for a total transaction of $108,475.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,026.13. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO William John Miller sold 30,000 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total value of $1,145,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 515,091 shares in the company, valued at $19,671,325.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,405,055 in the last 90 days. 2.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VECO. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 113,621 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,194,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 435,515 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $12,242,000 after purchasing an additional 44,714 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 47,854 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,345,000 after purchasing an additional 2,339 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 23,466 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $660,000 after purchasing an additional 3,999 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 168,501 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,737,000 after purchasing an additional 9,090 shares during the period. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.