Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on VECO. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Veeco Instruments from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.17.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of Veeco Instruments stock opened at $32.47 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $31.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.03 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 3.20, a current ratio of 4.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Veeco Instruments has a 52 week low of $16.92 and a 52 week high of $35.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In other news, CEO William John Miller sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total value of $800,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 464,543 shares in the company, valued at $14,865,376. This represents a 5.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Veeco Instruments by 29.6% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 134,088 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,692,000 after purchasing an additional 30,646 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 51.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 29,785 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $598,000 after buying an additional 10,122 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 4.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 33,043 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $664,000 after buying an additional 1,434 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 148.0% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 474,415 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,526,000 after buying an additional 283,099 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments in the first quarter valued at $618,000. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veeco Instruments Company Profile

Veeco Instruments Inc (NASDAQ: VECO) is a leading supplier of process equipment for the semiconductor, data storage, wireless communications, power electronics and advanced packaging industries. The company designs, manufactures and services precision tools used to grow, deposit and etch thin films on substrates, enabling the fabrication of chips, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and high-density storage devices. Veeco’s platforms are deployed across fabrication facilities worldwide, where they support key processes in materials science and device manufacturing.

Veeco’s product portfolio spans molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), ion beam etch and deposition, and high-precision wet and dry etch systems.