Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Stock Price Up 4.6% - Here's Why

Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) were up 4.6% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $29.36 and last traded at $29.31. Approximately 82,927 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 651,931 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.01.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on VECO. StockNews.com upgraded Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective 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. Benchmark decreased their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.14.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 0.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a current ratio of 3.54. The company has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.68 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $28.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.33.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $184.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $180.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. Veeco Instruments's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total transaction of $81,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,642 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,696,608.46. This represents a 2.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VECO. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Veeco Instruments by 130.6% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares during the period. 272 Capital LP acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments during the third quarter valued at $50,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Veeco Instruments by 46.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,088 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC grew its stake in Veeco Instruments by 733.3% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 116.2% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,626 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $120,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

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.