Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC Sells 311,928 Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 42.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 419,207 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 311,928 shares during the quarter. Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC owned about 0.74% of Veeco Instruments worth $11,235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VECO. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in Veeco Instruments during the 4th quarter valued at $29,676,000. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 50.3% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,640,649 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $87,485,000 after purchasing an additional 883,815 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter valued at $14,373,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 20.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,216,351 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $73,428,000 after purchasing an additional 371,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 40.5% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 751,003 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $24,880,000 after buying an additional 216,616 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VECO. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $35.00 target price (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Benchmark dropped their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 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 issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.43.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Veeco Instruments Trading Down 1.5 %

Veeco Instruments stock opened at $20.08 on Tuesday. 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 50-day simple moving average of $23.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.19 and a beta of 1.24. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.57 and a 52 week high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last released 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%. Analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share 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.