Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $36.57.

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Veeco Instruments from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Benchmark increased their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO William John Miller sold 24,201 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $854,295.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 545,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,241,712.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Veeco Instruments news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.10, for a total transaction of $170,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 67,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,294,179.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO William John Miller sold 24,201 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $854,295.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 545,091 shares in the company, valued at $19,241,712.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the first quarter worth $33,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 1,311.0% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,284 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 1,193 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 28.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,543 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 3.1 %

NASDAQ:VECO opened at $37.49 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The firm has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a PE ratio of -57.68 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50-day moving average of $35.21 and a 200 day moving average of $31.78. Veeco Instruments has a 1-year low of $18.35 and a 1-year high of $37.75.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The semiconductor company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $173.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.00 million. Veeco Instruments had a negative net margin of 4.56% and a positive return on equity of 11.10%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments will post 1.39 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.