Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Receives $45.57 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $45.57.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VECO shares. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Citigroup lowered shares of Veeco Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Northland Securities reduced their price target on Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.04, for a total transaction of $72,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 85,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,472,523.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,131,073 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $250,800,000 after purchasing an additional 391,346 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,645,701 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $82,096,000 after buying an additional 53,715 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,705,572 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $52,924,000 after buying an additional 135,687 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 119.3% in the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,458,288 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $68,117,000 after buying an additional 793,429 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 5.6% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 598,014 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,933,000 after buying an additional 31,482 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

NASDAQ VECO opened at $32.82 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $34.28 and its 200-day moving average is $38.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a PE ratio of -72.93 and a beta of 1.16. Veeco Instruments has a 12-month low of $23.63 and a 12-month high of $49.25.

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