Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Shares Gap Up - Here's Why

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $27.16, but opened at $28.55. Veeco Instruments shares last traded at $28.66, with a volume of 72,678 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on VECO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Benchmark reduced their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $33.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $39.71.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

The business's 50 day moving average price is $27.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.80. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 3.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 21.27 and a beta of 1.15.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.67, for a total transaction of $71,675.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,142 shares in the company, valued at $2,297,671.14. This represents a 3.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 50.3% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,640,649 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $87,485,000 after buying an additional 883,815 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 20.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,216,351 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $73,428,000 after acquiring an additional 371,221 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised 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 valued at $69,308,000 after acquiring an additional 30,008 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 119.3% during the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,458,288 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $68,117,000 after purchasing an additional 793,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 22,850 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company's stock.

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.