11,604 Shares in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Purchased by Proficio Capital Partners LLC

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 11,604 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $311,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VECO. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 257.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 919 shares during the last quarter. 272 Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the third quarter valued at $50,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 721.7% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 5,341 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 4,691 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 47.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 8,922 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 2,853 shares during the period. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 21.0% during 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. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VECO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $35.00 target price (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Friday, February 7th. 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 research note on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Benchmark cut their target price on Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.43.

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Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

VECO stock traded down $0.86 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $20.05. 127,252 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 703,906. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of 16.18 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50-day moving average of $23.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.21. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.99 and a 52 week high of $49.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 3.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Veeco Instruments 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.