Citigroup Upgrades Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) to “Buy”

Citigroup upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $33.00 price objective on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com raised Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Benchmark decreased their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.71.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of VECO stock opened at $28.15 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $27.83 and its 200 day moving average is $33.51. Veeco Instruments has a one year low of $25.52 and a one year high of $49.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a current ratio of 3.54. The company has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85 and a beta of 1.15.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.67, for a total value of $71,675.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 80,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,297,671.14. This trade represents a 3.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VECO. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 50.3% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,640,649 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $87,485,000 after purchasing an additional 883,815 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 119.3% in the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,458,288 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $68,117,000 after buying an additional 793,429 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 20.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,216,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $73,428,000 after buying an additional 371,221 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 37.3% during the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,175,759 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $38,953,000 after acquiring an additional 319,451 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 249.0% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 430,757 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $14,271,000 after acquiring an additional 307,348 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.