Brokerages Set Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Price Target at $42.14

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $42.14.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com raised Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Northland Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veeco Instruments 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 transaction of $71,675.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,500 shares of company stock worth $225,850. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,321 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $44,314,000 after acquiring an additional 22,850 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the third quarter worth $1,965,000. Zacks Investment Management boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 2.9% during the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 87,249 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,891,000 after buying an additional 2,431 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,091,995 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $69,308,000 after acquiring an additional 30,008 shares during the period. Finally, Petrus Trust Company LTA boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 317.9% during the 3rd quarter. Petrus Trust Company LTA now owns 22,462 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $744,000 after purchasing an additional 17,087 shares during the period. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VECO traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $26.22. 660,341 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 662,639. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a current ratio of 3.54. Veeco Instruments has a one year low of $25.93 and a one year high of $49.25. The company has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.42 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $30.54 and a 200 day moving average of $37.14.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 10.92%. The business had revenue of $184.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $180.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments will post 1.12 EPS 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.