Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Receives $32.43 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $32.43.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays cut their target price on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Benchmark reduced their target price on Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total value of $61,275.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,642 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,780,455.42. The trade was a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VECO. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,091,995 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $69,308,000 after buying an additional 30,008 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,965,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,321 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $44,314,000 after purchasing an additional 22,850 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter valued at about $633,000. Finally, 272 Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

NASDAQ:VECO traded down $0.39 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $17.95. The company had a trading volume of 726,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 728,549. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $21.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.69. Veeco Instruments has a 52-week low of $16.92 and a 52-week high of $49.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 3.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 1.12.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 9.38%. As a group, research analysts expect 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.