UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Cuts Stock Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC decreased its holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 71.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 140,717 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 352,175 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned 0.25% of Veeco Instruments worth $4,662,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 20.1% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,216,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $73,428,000 after buying an additional 371,221 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 119.3% in the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,458,288 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $68,117,000 after purchasing an additional 793,429 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 37.3% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,175,759 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $38,953,000 after purchasing an additional 319,451 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 969,694 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $32,126,000 after purchasing an additional 185,228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 40.5% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 751,003 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $24,880,000 after purchasing an additional 216,616 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.67, for a total transaction of $71,675.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,142 shares in the company, valued at $2,297,671.14. The trade was a 3.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VECO opened at $28.54 on Thursday. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.52 and a 1-year high of $49.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.79. The firm has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of 21.14 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 3.54 and a quick ratio of 2.41.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $184.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.57 million. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 10.92%. Veeco Instruments’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.12 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Benchmark cut their target price on Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.14.

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.