Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $28.1667.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VECO. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Zacks Research raised Veeco Instruments from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In other news, CEO William John Miller sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total transaction of $1,581,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 414,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,107,849.66. This represents a 10.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,342,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Veeco Instruments by 262.1% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,068,950 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $21,721,000 after purchasing an additional 773,763 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 920.1% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 676,502 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $20,586,000 after purchasing an additional 610,187 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 37.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1,164.3% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 477,386 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $13,644,000 after buying an additional 439,628 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of Veeco Instruments stock opened at $34.67 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.76 and a beta of 1.10. Veeco Instruments has a 52-week low of $16.92 and a 52-week high of $37.23. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.59. The company has a quick ratio of 3.20, a current ratio of 4.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

About Veeco Instruments

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.