Intevac, Inc. (NASDAQ:IVAC) was upgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Analyst Ratings Network.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $5.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Investment Research‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 12.61% from the stock’s previous close.

According to Zacks, “Intevac, Inc. is a leading supplier of static sputtering systems and related manufacturing equipment used to manufacture thin-film disks for computer hard disk drives. Sputtering is a complex vacuum deposition process used to deposit multiple thin-film layers on a disk. The company’s primary objective is to be the industry leader in supplying disk sputtering equipment by providing disk sputtering systems which have both the highest overall performance and the lowest cost of ownership in the industry. “

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Intevac stock. KBC Group boosted its position in Intevac, Inc. (NASDAQ:IVAC) by 47.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,702 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,755 shares during the period. KBC Group owned 0.07% of Intevac worth $68,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Intevac (NASDAQ:IVAC) traded up 1.13% on Tuesday, hitting $4.49. The stock had a trading volume of 7,252 shares. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $4.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.95. The stock’s market cap is $98.10 million. Intevac has a 12 month low of $4.28 and a 12 month high of $7.45.

Intevac (NASDAQ:IVAC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of ($0.23) by $0.05. The company earned $18.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.15) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Intevac will post ($0.51) EPS for the current year.

In other news, major shareholder April Fund Ltd 21 purchased 356,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $4.73 per share, for a total transaction of $1,687,664.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Northern Right Capital Managem sold 1,483,171 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.98, for a total transaction of $7,386,191.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. B. Riley reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $6.25 price target on shares of Intevac in a research note on Sunday, November 8th. Noble Financial raised shares of Intevac from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Roth Capital assumed coverage on shares of Intevac in a research note on Tuesday, January 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $8.50 price target on the stock. Finally, Northland Securities assumed coverage on shares of Intevac in a research note on Tuesday, December 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Intevac presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.63.

Intevac, Inc. provides process manufacturing equipment solutions to the hard disk drive industry and offers high-productivity, thin-film processing systems to the photovoltaic (NASDAQ:IVAC) industry. The Company also provides sensors, cameras and systems for government applications, such as night vision and long-range target identification. The Company’s customers include manufacturers of hard disk drives, PV cells and cell phones, as well as the United States government and its agencies and contractors. The Company has two segments, which include Equipment and Photonics. The Company’s products are used in the defense market. The Company provides process and applications support, customer training, installation, start-up assistance and post-installation service support to its equipment customers. The Company manufactures its Equipment products at its facilities in California and Singapore. Its operations include vacuum processing, and electromechanical and optical system assembly.

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