Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Given Outperform Rating at Oppenheimer

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by investment analysts at Oppenheimer in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $35.00 target price on the semiconductor company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $40.00. Oppenheimer’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 43.37% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on VECO. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Benchmark lowered their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.00.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ VECO traded down $0.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $24.41. 308,300 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 618,561. The stock has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.08 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.66. Veeco Instruments has a 1-year low of $23.24 and a 1-year high of $49.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 3.54 and a quick ratio of 2.41.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $184.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.57 million. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 10.92%. Veeco Instruments’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Veeco Instruments will post 1.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.63, for a total value of $69,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,142 shares in the company, valued at $2,076,173.46. This trade represents a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VECO. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 14.8% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake 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 valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 130.6% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 752 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,099 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Veeco Instruments by 257.4% during 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 period. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.