Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Sets New 1-Year High at $38.40

Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $38.40 and last traded at $38.40, with a volume of 36836 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $37.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VECO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Benchmark raised their target price on Veeco Instruments from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.57.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -57.68 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The semiconductor company reported $0.40 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $173.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $170.00 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CEO William John Miller sold 24,201 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $854,295.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 545,091 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,241,712.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 545,091 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,241,712.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 5,000 shares of Veeco Instruments 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 2.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 130.7% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 48,075 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,691,000 after acquiring an additional 27,234 shares in the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the first quarter worth about $99,000. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the first quarter worth about $1,579,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the first quarter worth about $217,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 45.4% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 12,818 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $451,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.