Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on VECO. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Veeco Instruments from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.17.

Veeco Instruments Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:VECO opened at $32.37 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.87 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 3.20, a current ratio of 4.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $31.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.49. Veeco Instruments has a 52 week low of $16.92 and a 52 week high of $35.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In other news, CEO William John Miller sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total transaction of $800,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 464,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,865,376. The trade was a 5.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VECO. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the 4th quarter worth $48,342,000. SG Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the second quarter worth about $16,421,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 262.1% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,068,950 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $21,721,000 after buying an additional 773,763 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 920.1% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 676,502 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $20,586,000 after buying an additional 610,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,820,357 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $52,026,000 after buying an additional 495,767 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Company Profile

Veeco Instruments Inc (NASDAQ: VECO) is a leading supplier of process equipment for the semiconductor, data storage, wireless communications, power electronics and advanced packaging industries. The company designs, manufactures and services precision tools used to grow, deposit and etch thin films on substrates, enabling the fabrication of chips, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and high-density storage devices. Veeco’s platforms are deployed across fabrication facilities worldwide, where they support key processes in materials science and device manufacturing.

Veeco’s product portfolio spans molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), ion beam etch and deposition, and high-precision wet and dry etch systems.