Analysts Set Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Price Target at $39.71

Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $39.71.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VECO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Benchmark dropped their target price on Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup raised Veeco Instruments from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $33.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.67, for a total value of $71,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,142 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,297,671.14. This trade represents a 3.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 46.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,088 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Veeco Instruments by 130.6% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 752 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,099 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 16,720 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $781,000 after buying an additional 915 shares during the period. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

NASDAQ VECO traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $28.60. 743,332 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 685,558. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.54. Veeco Instruments has a 1 year low of $25.52 and a 1 year high of $49.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 3.54 and a quick ratio of 2.41. The company has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19 and a beta of 1.15.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.01. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 10.92% and a net margin of 11.34%. The company had revenue of $184.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. Veeco Instruments's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Veeco Instruments will post 1.12 EPS 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.