Brokerages Set Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Target Price at $27.33

Key Points

• Veeco Instruments Inc. has been rated as a Moderate Buy by six research firms, with an average target price of $27.33 for the next year.
• In the most recent earnings report, Veeco Instruments exceeded analysts' expectations by posting earnings of $0.36 per share compared to the estimated $0.22, although revenue decreased by 5.6% year-over-year.
• Insider selling was noted, with SVP Adrian Devasahayam selling 11,010 shares, reducing their ownership by about 10.98%.

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $27.3333.

Several brokerages recently commented on VECO. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Benchmark decreased their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

NASDAQ:VECO traded up $1.25 on Wednesday, hitting $25.25. The company had a trading volume of 781,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 919,992. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.76 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 5.10, a quick ratio of 3.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $21.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.00. Veeco Instruments has a 52 week low of $16.92 and a 52 week high of $38.56.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $166.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.31 million. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 7.38%. The firm's revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 11,010 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total value of $225,705.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 89,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,829,707. This represents a 10.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,396,804 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $69,023,000 after acquiring an additional 157,978 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,215,031 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $65,329,000 after purchasing an additional 284,716 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,748,172 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $73,651,000 after purchasing an additional 531,821 shares in the last quarter. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY now owns 2,410,000 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $48,971,000 after purchasing an additional 30,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,242,750 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $60,107,000 after purchasing an additional 78,884 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is 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.