Veeco Instruments’ (VECO) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Benchmark

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by analysts at Benchmark in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $42.00 price objective on the semiconductor company’s stock. Benchmark’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 27.58% from the stock’s previous close.

VECO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays boosted their price target on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup lowered shares of Veeco Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Northland Securities decreased their price target on Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.14.

Veeco Instruments Trading Down 6.3 %

NASDAQ VECO traded down $2.20 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $32.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,526,219 shares, compared to its average volume of 627,254. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 3.05 and a quick ratio of 2.02. Veeco Instruments has a 52-week low of $23.63 and a 52-week high of $49.25. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -74.16 and a beta of 1.22.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). Veeco Instruments had a negative net margin of 2.51% and a positive return on equity of 11.97%. The company had revenue of $175.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.03 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Veeco Instruments will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In related news, Director Dennis Thomas St sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.72, for a total transaction of $150,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 51,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,956,196.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Veeco Instruments news, CEO William John Miller sold 30,000 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total transaction of $1,145,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 515,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,671,325.29. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dennis Thomas St sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.72, for a total transaction of $150,880.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 51,861 shares in the company, valued at $1,956,196.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,000 shares of company stock worth $1,526,205. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Phocas Financial Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 4th quarter worth $3,599,000. Crestline Management LP lifted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 155.7% in the 4th quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 109,286 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,391,000 after acquiring an additional 66,544 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 81.0% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 114,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,482,000 after purchasing an additional 51,000 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 292,848 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $10,299,000 after purchasing an additional 30,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 280.7% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 38,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,370,000 after purchasing an additional 28,719 shares in the last quarter. 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.