Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the seven analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $45.57.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on VECO shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Veeco Instruments from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ:VECO traded down $0.33 on Friday, reaching $33.53. The stock had a trading volume of 746,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 663,474. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Veeco Instruments has a 12-month low of $23.63 and a 12-month high of $49.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $35.11 and a 200 day moving average of $38.33. The stock has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -74.51 and a beta of 1.17.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The company had revenue of $175.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.21 EPS. Veeco Instruments's revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Veeco Instruments will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.04, for a total value of $72,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 85,142 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,472,523.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 793,429 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Veeco Instruments by 5.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,131,073 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $250,800,000 after purchasing an additional 391,346 shares during the period. Blue Grotto Capital LLC bought a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter worth about $11,476,000. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $8,857,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake 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 worth $52,924,000 after acquiring an additional 135,687 shares during the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by 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.