Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $45.57.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on VECO shares. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Northland Securities cut their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup cut Veeco Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Veeco Instruments from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of VECO opened at $33.53 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.30. The firm has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a PE ratio of -74.51 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Veeco Instruments has a 1-year low of $23.63 and a 1-year high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $175.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.03 million. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.21 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments will post 1.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.04, for a total transaction of $72,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 85,142 shares in the company, valued at $2,472,523.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. increased its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 67,588 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,156,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 3.1% in the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 18,675 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $657,000 after buying an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 2.2% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 28,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,331,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 1.3% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

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.