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

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $27.50.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on VECO shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $29.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In other news, CEO William John Miller sold 25,000 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total value of $800,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 464,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,865,376. The trade was a 5.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 75.6% in the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,366 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 1,019 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 49,728.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,488 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 3,481 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $91,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 329.7% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,632 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 3,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 16,961.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 3,583 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 3,562 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 4.4%

Shares of VECO opened at $33.61 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.49 and a beta of 1.19. Veeco Instruments has a 12 month low of $16.92 and a 12 month high of $35.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $31.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.77. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 3.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

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.