Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $32.43.

A number of research firms have weighed in on VECO. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $35.00 price objective (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target 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. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total transaction of $61,275.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,642 shares in the company, valued at $1,780,455.42. This represents a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,477,260 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $200,391,000 after purchasing an additional 110,825 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,792,850 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $74,848,000 after purchasing an additional 152,201 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,748,172 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $73,651,000 after purchasing an additional 531,821 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,242,750 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $60,107,000 after purchasing an additional 78,884 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 20.1% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,216,351 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $73,428,000 after purchasing an additional 371,221 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 1.6 %

Veeco Instruments stock traded up $0.34 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $22.24. 1,162,545 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 655,243. The company's 50-day moving average is $25.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.98. Veeco Instruments has a 52-week low of $21.59 and a 52-week high of $49.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94 and a beta of 1.13.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.14). Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 10.28%. On average, analysts predict that Veeco Instruments will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current 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.