Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $32.43.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VECO. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $35.00 target price (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Friday, February 7th.

Insider Activity

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total transaction of $61,275.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,780,455.42. The trade was a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VECO. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Veeco Instruments by 257.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 919 shares during the last quarter. 272 Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the third quarter worth about $50,000. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 46.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,088 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its position in Veeco Instruments by 721.7% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 5,341 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $177,000 after buying an additional 4,691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sciencast Management LP acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments in the 4th quarter worth approximately $204,000. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VECO opened at $20.91 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $23.52 and its 200 day moving average is $27.21. The stock has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.86 and a beta of 1.24. Veeco Instruments has a 52-week low of $20.05 and a 52-week high of $49.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 3.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.14). Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 10.28%. Sell-side analysts predict that Veeco Instruments will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

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.