Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

by · The Markets Daily

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO – Get Free Report) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 1,409,145 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 112% from the previous session’s volume of 665,737 shares.The stock last traded at $33.39 and had previously closed at $32.63.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on VECO shares. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.57.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Veeco Instruments

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.64 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.17.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 12.03% and a net margin of 11.83%. The business had revenue of $175.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.21 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total value of $81,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 82,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,696,608.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VECO. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 5.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,131,073 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $250,800,000 after buying an additional 391,346 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 119.3% in the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,458,288 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $68,117,000 after acquiring an additional 793,429 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 5.6% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 598,014 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,933,000 after purchasing an additional 31,482 shares in the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 4.5% during the first quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 384,310 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,516,000 after purchasing an additional 16,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Grotto Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter worth $11,476,000. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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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