Victory Capital Management Inc. Trims Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 812,728 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 26,510 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $25,219,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VECO. Intrust Bank NA grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 13,717 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,504 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Veeco Instruments by 58.9% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 8,913 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $277,000 after purchasing an additional 3,304 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its position in Veeco Instruments by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 29,810 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $925,000 after buying an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 48.4% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 80,097 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,485,000 after buying an additional 26,122 shares during the period. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 33,812 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after buying an additional 3,798 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on VECO shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Veeco Instruments from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In related news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 5,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 67,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,294,179.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.10, for a total transaction of $170,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 67,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,294,179.80. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $19,241,712.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 4.8 %

Shares of Veeco Instruments stock opened at $39.29 on Thursday. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.05 and a twelve month high of $40.30. 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 has a 50-day moving average price of $35.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.91. The firm has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -60.45 and a beta of 1.18.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released 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. The business had revenue of $173.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.00 million. Veeco Instruments had a positive return on equity of 11.10% and a negative net margin of 4.56%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.