New York Life Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

New York Life Investment Management LLC cut its stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,345 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 479 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Veeco Instruments by 0.8% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 485,924 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,659,000 after purchasing an additional 3,768 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Veeco Instruments by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 11,507 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 2,347 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 202.0% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 28,122 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $755,000 after acquiring an additional 18,810 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 3.7% in the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 16,723 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 28.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,543 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares during the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on VECO shares. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Veeco Instruments from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. 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 report on Thursday, February 15th. Barclays boosted their price target on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 5,000 shares of Veeco Instruments 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 transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO William John Miller sold 24,201 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 545,091 shares in the company, valued at $19,241,712.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $170,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 67,278 shares in the company, valued at $2,294,179.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of Veeco Instruments stock opened at $38.07 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $35.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.96. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.42 and a twelve month high of $40.30. The company has a current ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -58.57 and a beta of 1.18.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $173.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.00 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.39 earnings per share 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.