Brokerages Set Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Target Price at $39.71

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.71.

A number of brokerages have commented on VECO. StockNews.com raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Benchmark lowered their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.67, for a total transaction of $71,675.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 80,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,297,671.14. This trade represents a 3.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 130.6% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares in the last quarter. 272 Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,088 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 116.2% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,626 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Veeco Instruments by 14.8% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

NASDAQ:VECO opened at $26.69 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $27.78 and its 200 day moving average is $33.25. Veeco Instruments has a 12 month low of $25.52 and a 12 month high of $49.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.77 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 3.54, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.01. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 10.92% and a net margin of 11.34%. The business had revenue of $184.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.