Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Shares Purchased by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 21.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,966 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,459 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VECO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 7.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,690,121 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $188,059,000 after acquiring an additional 450,685 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings 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 worth $44,129,000 after buying an additional 310,390 shares in the last quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,599,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments during the third quarter worth about $2,980,000. Finally, Lisanti Capital Growth LLC purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,084,000. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VECO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective 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 target price 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. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO William John Miller sold 24,201 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $854,295.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 545,091 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,241,712.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.10, for a total transaction of $170,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 67,278 shares in the company, valued at $2,294,179.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO William John Miller sold 24,201 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total value of $854,295.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 545,091 shares in the company, valued at $19,241,712.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

NASDAQ:VECO opened at $36.37 on Friday. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.70 and a 52 week high of $37.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.56. The company has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -55.95 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The semiconductor company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.09. Veeco Instruments had a positive return on equity of 11.10% and a negative net margin of 4.56%. The firm had revenue of $173.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.00 million. Equities analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Veeco Instruments Company Profile

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.