Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Holdings Raised by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 48.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 80,097 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,122 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $2,485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VECO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,690,121 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $188,059,000 after purchasing an additional 450,685 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 1.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,039,207 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $113,542,000 after buying an additional 41,575 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted 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 valued at $44,129,000 after acquiring an additional 310,390 shares during the period. Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 3.0% during the third quarter. Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC now owns 1,329,635 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $37,376,000 after acquiring an additional 38,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Veeco Instruments by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 485,924 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $13,659,000 after purchasing an additional 3,768 shares during the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VECO opened at $37.49 on Wednesday. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.35 and a 12 month high of $38.92. The company has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -57.68 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.86.

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

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments 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 completion of 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Veeco Instruments news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.10, for a total value of $170,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 67,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,294,179.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO William John Miller sold 24,201 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $854,295.30. Following the transaction, 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. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Benchmark boosted their price target on Veeco Instruments from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.57.

Veeco Instruments 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.