Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Thursday.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on VECO. Northland Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Veeco Instruments from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Veeco Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Four research 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.57.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of VECO opened at $28.79 on Thursday. Veeco Instruments has a fifty-two week low of $24.33 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.59. The stock has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 20.42 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a current ratio of 3.52.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total value of $81,575.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,696,608.46. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 0.5% in the second quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 67,588 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,156,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.9% in the 1st 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 period. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 3.1% during the 1st 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 period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Veeco Instruments by 2.2% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 28,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,331,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is 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.