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

Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $32.43.

Several brokerages recently commented on VECO. Benchmark decreased their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays reduced their price target on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 72,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,780,455.42. This represents a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VECO. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 4th quarter valued at $29,676,000. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 50.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,640,649 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $87,485,000 after acquiring an additional 883,815 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments during the 4th quarter valued at about $14,373,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,748,172 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $73,651,000 after acquiring an additional 531,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 20.1% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,216,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $73,428,000 after purchasing an additional 371,221 shares during the period. 98.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VECO opened at $21.16 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.06 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $23.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.45. The company has a current ratio of 3.98, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Veeco Instruments has a 12-month low of $20.05 and a 12-month high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 10.28%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments will post 0.76 earnings per share 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.