Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Shares Sold by Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C

Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C trimmed its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 60.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,918 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 7,484 shares during the period. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $230,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Crestline Management LP boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 155.7% in the fourth quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 109,286 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,391,000 after purchasing an additional 66,544 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,705,572 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $52,924,000 after buying an additional 135,687 shares in the last quarter. RK Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Veeco Instruments by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. RK Capital Management LLC now owns 440,100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,656,000 after acquiring an additional 16,300 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in Veeco Instruments by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,645,701 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $82,096,000 after acquiring an additional 53,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Grotto Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter valued at $11,476,000. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on VECO shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup cut shares of Veeco Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, July 15th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Northland Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned 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 $45.57.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VECO opened at $33.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 2.32. The firm has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -74.51 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $35.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.30. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.63 and a 1-year high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $175.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.03 million. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.21 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.04, for a total value of $72,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 85,142 shares in the company, valued at $2,472,523.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

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.