Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $50.00 According to Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts rate Veeco “Hold” on average: Four of seven analysts recommend holding and three recommend buying, with a consensus 12-month price target of $50.00.
• Quarterly results fell short of estimates: Veeco reported EPS of $0.36 versus the $0.43 consensus and revenue of $209.38 million versus $213.33 million, though revenue rose 26.2% year over year.
• CEO William Miller sold 200,000 shares for about $10.8 million under a pre-arranged trading plan, reducing his direct stake by 54.12%.

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Hold" by the seven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $50.00.

VECO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on Veeco Instruments from $63.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Veeco Instruments from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered Veeco Instruments from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Northland Securities raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $66.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, September 21st.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CEO William Miller sold 200,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.18, for a total value of $10,836,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 169,570 shares in the company, valued at $9,187,302.60. This represents a 54.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Mary Jane Raymond sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $80,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 23,967 shares of the company's stock, valued at $958,680. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 210.9% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 73,163 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,477,000 after purchasing an additional 49,631 shares during the last quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,458,000. Rokos Capital Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the first quarter worth approximately $3,228,000. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 235.4% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 109,303 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $8,285,000 after purchasing an additional 76,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 3.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,374,292 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $80,391,000 after purchasing an additional 68,780 shares during the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

VECO stock opened at $39.06 on Friday. Veeco Instruments has a 52 week low of $26.00 and a 52 week high of $86.63. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 3.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.65 and a beta of 1.41.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $209.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $213.33 million. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 3.81% and a net margin of 3.62%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veeco Instruments Company Profile

Veeco Instruments designs and manufactures process equipment used to make semiconductors and other advanced materials. Its systems support thin-film deposition, etching, lithography and related manufacturing processes. The company's product portfolio includes metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), ion beam and laser-processing systems. These tools serve applications in compound semiconductors, advanced packaging, data storage and scientific research. Veeco serves customers around the world through its sales and service operations.

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