Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $36.57.

VECO has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Benchmark raised their price target on Veeco Instruments from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.10, for a total transaction of $170,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 67,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,294,179.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Veeco Instruments news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.10, for a total transaction of $170,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 67,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,294,179.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO William John Miller sold 24,201 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $854,295.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 545,091 shares in the company, valued at $19,241,712.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,690,121 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $188,059,000 after buying an additional 450,685 shares during the last quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,599,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $875,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,569,885 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,129,000 after purchasing an additional 310,390 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 168,501 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,737,000 after purchasing an additional 9,090 shares during the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Veeco Instruments Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of Veeco Instruments stock opened at $34.59 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 2.15. Veeco Instruments has a 1 year low of $17.70 and a 1 year high of $37.75. The firm has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a PE ratio of -53.21 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.51.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The semiconductor company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.09. Veeco Instruments had a negative net margin of 4.56% and a positive return on equity of 11.10%. The company had revenue of $173.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.00 million. Analysts expect that Veeco Instruments will post 1.39 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.