Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Price Target Raised to $35.00 at Barclays

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) had its price target raised by Barclays from $33.00 to $35.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would indicate a potential downside of 11.97% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on VECO. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Veeco Instruments from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Benchmark boosted their price target on Veeco Instruments from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup increased their price target on Veeco Instruments from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.43.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VECO traded up $2.27 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.76. 589,727 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 523,617. Veeco Instruments has a twelve month low of $19.05 and a twelve month high of $40.30. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $35.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -61.68 and a beta of 1.18.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The semiconductor company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $173.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.00 million. Veeco Instruments had a negative net margin of 4.56% and a positive return on equity of 11.10%. On average, analysts expect that Veeco Instruments will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Veeco Instruments by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,739,727 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $209,134,000 after acquiring an additional 49,606 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,039,207 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $113,542,000 after purchasing an additional 41,575 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,645,701 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $82,096,000 after purchasing an additional 53,715 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,326,385 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $72,189,000 after buying an additional 87,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Veeco Instruments by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,705,572 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $52,924,000 after buying an additional 135,687 shares during the period. 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.