Oppenheimer Increases Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Price Target to $55.00

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) had its target price hoisted by Oppenheimer from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $42.14.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

VECO stock opened at $46.71 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.97. The stock has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a PE ratio of -103.80 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Veeco Instruments has a 1 year low of $23.63 and a 1 year high of $48.48.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $174.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.00 million. Veeco Instruments had a positive return on equity of 11.97% and a negative net margin of 2.51%. Equities analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments will post 1.29 EPS 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 dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total value of $1,145,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 515,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,671,325.29. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO William John Miller sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total value of $1,145,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 515,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,671,325.29. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Dennis Thomas St sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.72, for a total transaction of $150,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 51,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,956,196.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,500 shares of company stock worth $1,405,055. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Veeco Instruments by 1,311.0% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,284 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193 shares during the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the first quarter worth approximately $99,000. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the first quarter worth approximately $203,000. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.