Geode Capital Management LLC Acquires 22,850 Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,337,321 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 22,850 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.36% of Veeco Instruments worth $44,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 50.3% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,640,649 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $87,485,000 after acquiring an additional 883,815 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 119.3% during the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,458,288 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $68,117,000 after buying an additional 793,429 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 20.1% in 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 last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 37.3% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,175,759 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $38,953,000 after acquiring an additional 319,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 249.0% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 430,757 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $14,271,000 after acquiring an additional 307,348 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,142 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,297,671.14. This trade represents a 3.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of VECO stock traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $27.83. The stock had a trading volume of 146,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 658,940. The firm has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 3.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a one year low of $25.52 and a one year high of $49.25. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $28.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.86.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.01. The firm 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%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.12 EPS 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.