Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Receives $32.43 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $32.43.

VECO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price target (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Benchmark cut their target price on Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays decreased their target price on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday.

Insider Activity

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total value of $61,275.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,642 shares in the company, valued at $1,780,455.42. The trade was a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Creative Planning lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 47.4% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 28,001 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $928,000 after acquiring an additional 9,008 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 42.6% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 175,073 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,800,000 after purchasing an additional 52,328 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 130.6% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 3,213.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,804 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 4,659 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 14.8% in the third 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 in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ VECO opened at $22.24 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $25.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.98 and a quick ratio of 2.69. Veeco Instruments has a 1-year low of $21.59 and a 1-year high of $49.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.94 and a beta of 1.13.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.14). Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 9.38%. As a group, research analysts expect that Veeco Instruments will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

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.