Franklin Resources Inc. Cuts Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 66.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,688 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 57,655 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.05% of Veeco Instruments worth $769,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of VECO. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position 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 worth $35,000 after buying an additional 919 shares during the last quarter. 272 Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Sciencast Management LP bought a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the 4th quarter valued at $204,000. Inceptionr LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter valued at about $263,000. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,835 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VECO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Benchmark dropped their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.43.

Veeco Instruments Trading Down 2.1 %

NASDAQ:VECO traded down $0.39 on Friday, hitting $17.95. 726,146 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 728,787. The company's 50-day moving average price is $21.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 1.12. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.92 and a 52 week high of $49.25.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total transaction of $61,275.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,642 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,780,455.42. This trade represents a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

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.