Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Price Target Raised to $46.00

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) had its price objective increased by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $43.00 to $46.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective points to a potential upside of 22.70% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Benchmark upped their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup boosted their target price 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, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.14.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of VECO opened at $37.49 on Wednesday. Veeco Instruments has a fifty-two week low of $18.35 and a fifty-two week high of $38.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 3.24. The company’s fifty day moving average is $35.25 and its 200 day moving average is $31.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a PE ratio of -57.68 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. Veeco Instruments had a positive return on equity of 11.10% and a negative net margin of 4.56%. The company had revenue of $173.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.00 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Veeco Instruments will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,739,727 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $209,134,000 after purchasing an additional 49,606 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 1.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,039,207 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $113,542,000 after buying an additional 41,575 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,645,701 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $82,096,000 after acquiring an additional 53,715 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,326,385 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $72,189,000 after acquiring an additional 87,605 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,705,572 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $52,924,000 after acquiring an additional 135,687 shares during the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.