Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Veeco Instruments' stock price opened at $32.27 after closing at $30.43, marking a significant increase as the company last traded at $31.04 with a volume of 473,453 shares.
• Despite reporting earnings of $0.36 per share, which beat estimates, the company's revenue declined by 5.6% from last year, indicating potential challenges ahead.
• Analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with four Buy ratings and two Hold ratings, while the average price target for the stock is $27.33.

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $30.43, but opened at $32.27. Veeco Instruments shares last traded at $31.04, with a volume of 473,453 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VECO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Benchmark cut 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. 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 research note on Thursday, August 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.33.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 4.8%

The company's fifty day moving average is $24.66 and its 200-day moving average is $21.68. The company has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a PE ratio of 31.32 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 3.43, a current ratio of 5.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

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

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In other news, CEO William John Miller sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $625,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 470,671 shares in the company, valued at $11,766,775. The trade was a 5.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 4,014 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $120,420.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 82,120 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,463,600. This represents a 4.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,060 shares of company stock worth $850,616. Insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VECO. SG Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the 2nd quarter valued at about $16,421,000. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 262.1% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,068,950 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $21,721,000 after purchasing an additional 773,763 shares in the last quarter. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY raised its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY now owns 2,380,000 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $47,790,000 after purchasing an additional 397,200 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 55.8% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 835,539 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $16,778,000 after purchasing an additional 299,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 9.7% in 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. 98.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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