Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $37.50 and last traded at $37.7830, with a volume of 4432 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.13.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VECO. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.17.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $31.93 and its 200 day moving average is $30.82. The stock has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a PE ratio of 63.88 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 3.20 and a current ratio of 4.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO William John Miller sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total value of $1,581,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 414,543 shares in the company, valued at $13,107,849.66. This represents a 10.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,663,310 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $233,195,000 after purchasing an additional 62,016 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,396,804 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $69,023,000 after purchasing an additional 157,978 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,215,031 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $65,329,000 after purchasing an additional 284,716 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,481,803 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $75,521,000 after purchasing an additional 26,248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY now owns 2,410,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $48,971,000 after purchasing an additional 30,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

About Veeco Instruments

Veeco Instruments Inc (NASDAQ: VECO) is a leading supplier of process equipment for the semiconductor, data storage, wireless communications, power electronics and advanced packaging industries. The company designs, manufactures and services precision tools used to grow, deposit and etch thin films on substrates, enabling the fabrication of chips, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and high-density storage devices. Veeco’s platforms are deployed across fabrication facilities worldwide, where they support key processes in materials science and device manufacturing.

Veeco’s product portfolio spans molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), ion beam etch and deposition, and high-precision wet and dry etch systems.