Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Reaches New 1-Year High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) reached a new 52-week high of $34.45, trading at $33.52 with a volume of 216,156 shares.
• The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, despite a year-over-year revenue decline of 5.6%.
• Recent analyst ratings include a price target increase by Needham & Company from $29 to $30 and a price target decrease by Benchmark from $31 to $28, indicating mixed sentiment in the market.

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $34.45 and last traded at $33.52, with a volume of 216156 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.08.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on VECO. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Benchmark lowered their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.33.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 0.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 5.10 and a quick ratio of 3.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.51 and a beta of 1.27. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $24.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.76.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $166.10 million for 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 company's quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CEO William John Miller sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $625,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 470,671 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,766,775. This trade represents a 5.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 4,046 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.00, for a total transaction of $105,196.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 86,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,239,484. This represents a 4.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,060 shares of company stock worth $850,616 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VECO. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 164,871 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $4,419,000 after acquiring an additional 24,154 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 9,391 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 396.2% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,295 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 8,786.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 176,845 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $3,551,000 after acquiring an additional 174,855 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 176,679 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $3,548,000 after acquiring an additional 13,613 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

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.

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