Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) PT Raised to $46.00

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) had its price objective raised by analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $43.00 to $46.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target indicates a potential upside of 20.07% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Benchmark increased their target price on Veeco Instruments from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.00.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VECO opened at $38.31 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $35.38 and its 200 day moving average is $31.96. The stock has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -58.57 and a beta of 1.18. Veeco Instruments has a 1-year low of $20.44 and a 1-year high of $40.30.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last announced its 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 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 the consensus estimate of $170.00 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VECO. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1,311.0% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,284 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments in the 1st quarter valued at $99,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

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.