Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Trims Stock Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC cut its stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 47.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 194,128 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 176,789 shares during the quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC owned approximately 0.34% of Veeco Instruments worth $5,203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter valued at $529,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 4.7% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 170,187 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $5,706,000 after acquiring an additional 7,651 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 20.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 371,221 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 31.6% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 18,334 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $607,000 after acquiring an additional 4,400 shares during the period. Finally, PDT Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,109,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

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Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VECO traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $20.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 522,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 708,059. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $23.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.97. 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 $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.37 and a beta of 1.24. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.57 and a 1-year high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 9.38%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 firm's stock in a transaction on 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on VECO shares. Benchmark dropped their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays cut 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 report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $35.00 price objective (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.43.

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.