Capital Fund Management S.A. Purchases Shares of 31,158 Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Capital Fund Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 31,158 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $835,000. Capital Fund Management S.A. owned approximately 0.05% of Veeco Instruments at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 257.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 919 shares during the period. 272 Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the third quarter worth about $50,000. Sciencast Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Inceptionr LLC bought a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the 4th quarter worth about $263,000. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,589 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 1,835 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total transaction of $61,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,642 shares in the company, valued at $1,780,455.42. The trade was a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of Veeco Instruments stock traded down $0.39 on Friday, reaching $17.95. 726,146 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 728,787. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.92 and a 52 week high of $49.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.98 and a quick ratio of 2.69. The company has a 50 day moving average of $21.15 and a 200 day moving average of $25.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 1.12.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.14). Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 9.38%. Equities analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on VECO shares. StockNews.com raised Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $35.00 price objective (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.43.

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.