Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Stock Holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,812 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,798 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $1,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VECO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 7.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,690,121 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $188,059,000 after acquiring an additional 450,685 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 24.6% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,569,885 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,129,000 after acquiring an additional 310,390 shares during the last quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter valued at $3,599,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,980,000. Finally, Lisanti Capital Growth LLC acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,084,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VECO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Barclays raised their price target on Veeco Instruments from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Citigroup raised their price target on Veeco Instruments from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Benchmark raised their price target on Veeco Instruments from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.57.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

NASDAQ VECO opened at $35.16 on Monday. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.70 and a 1-year high of $37.75. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.40.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The semiconductor company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $173.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.00 million. Veeco Instruments had a positive return on equity of 11.10% and a negative net margin of 4.56%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.10, for a total transaction of $170,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 67,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,294,179.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO William John Miller sold 24,201 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $854,295.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 545,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,241,712.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.10, for a total value of $170,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 67,278 shares in the company, valued at $2,294,179.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

About Veeco Instruments

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.