Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Receives $36.57 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $38.43.

VECO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

VECO opened at $39.29 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $35.34 and a 200-day moving average of $31.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 3.24. Veeco Instruments has a 52-week low of $19.05 and a 52-week high of $40.30. The company has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a PE ratio of -60.45 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.09. Veeco Instruments had a negative net margin of 4.56% and a positive return on equity of 11.10%. The company had revenue of $173.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.00 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CEO William John Miller sold 24,201 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was 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 directly owns 67,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,294,179.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 545,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,241,712.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the third quarter worth $26,000. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 1,311.0% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,284 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments during the 1st quarter worth approximately $99,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.