Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Needham & Company LLC

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $55.00 price objective on the semiconductor company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price indicates a potential upside of 53.42% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Citigroup lowered shares of Veeco Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Barclays boosted 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, May 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.57.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 8.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VECO opened at $35.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a PE ratio of -79.66 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a current ratio of 3.05. Veeco Instruments has a 52-week low of $23.63 and a 52-week high of $49.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $43.49 and a 200 day moving average of $38.39.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $175.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.03 million. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 12.24%. Veeco Instruments’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.21 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Dennis Thomas St sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.72, for a total transaction of $150,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 51,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,956,196.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.46, for a total value of $121,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 94,809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,594,444.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Dennis Thomas St sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.72, for a total transaction of $150,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 51,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,956,196.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,000 shares of company stock worth $380,505. 2.40% 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 VECO. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. boosted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 67,588 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,156,000 after buying an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 29,810 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $925,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC increased its position in Veeco Instruments by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 21,350 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $751,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. raised its stake in Veeco Instruments by 3.1% during the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 18,675 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $657,000 after buying an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 2.2% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 28,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,331,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.