Analysts Set Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Target Price at $36.57

Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $36.57.

A number of research firms have issued reports on VECO. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target 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. Benchmark lifted their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup upped their target price on Veeco Instruments from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Veeco Instruments from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CEO William John Miller sold 24,201 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 545,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,241,712.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Veeco Instruments news, CEO William John Miller sold 24,201 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $854,295.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 545,091 shares in the company, valued at $19,241,712.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $170,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 67,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,294,179.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 29,810 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $925,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 3.7% during the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 16,723 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $470,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its stake in Veeco Instruments by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 20,754 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 21,426 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $602,000 after purchasing an additional 747 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 28.3% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,543 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 782 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of VECO opened at $36.37 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a PE ratio of -55.95 and a beta of 1.18. Veeco Instruments has a 12 month low of $17.70 and a 12 month high of $37.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $35.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.63.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The semiconductor company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $173.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.00 million. Veeco Instruments had a positive return on equity of 11.10% and a negative net margin of 4.56%. Equities research analysts predict that Veeco Instruments will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.