Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 127,039 Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Renaissance Technologies LLC decreased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 42.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 171,871 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 127,039 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.30% of Veeco Instruments worth $4,606,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 919 shares in the last quarter. 272 Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Sciencast Management LP bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter worth about $204,000. Inceptionr LLC acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter worth about $263,000. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,835 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

VECO stock traded up $1.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $19.23. The company had a trading volume of 1,217,716 shares, compared to its average volume of 732,872. The company has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.51 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $20.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.38. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.92 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25. The company has a current ratio of 3.98, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 9.38%. Equities research analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VECO has been the subject of a number of research reports. Benchmark decreased their target price on Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $35.00 price objective (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays dropped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup cut 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $32.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,780,455.42. This trade represents a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

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.