Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Earns Buy Rating from Benchmark

Benchmark reissued their buy rating on shares of Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Benchmark currently has a $42.00 price objective on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Barclays increased their price target on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Citigroup downgraded Veeco Instruments from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a buy rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Northland Securities reduced their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $45.57.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

NASDAQ VECO opened at $36.48 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 3.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Veeco Instruments has a twelve month low of $23.63 and a twelve month high of $49.25. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $43.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.45. The firm has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -81.06 and a beta of 1.22.

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

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.39, for a total transaction of $108,475.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 2,167 shares in the company, valued at $94,026.13. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.39, for a total transaction of $108,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 2,167 shares in the company, valued at $94,026.13. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Dennis Thomas St sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.72, for a total value of $150,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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 have sold 9,000 shares of company stock worth $380,505. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VECO. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 237.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 733.3% during the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the first quarter valued at about $99,000. Finally, Ausbil Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $200,000. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by 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.