Synovus Financial Corp Takes Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Synovus Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 19,117 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $633,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake 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 valued at $87,485,000 after acquiring an additional 883,815 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 20.1% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,216,351 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $73,428,000 after buying an additional 371,221 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 1.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,091,995 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $69,308,000 after buying an additional 30,008 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased 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 during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,321 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $44,314,000 after buying an additional 22,850 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.67, for a total transaction of $71,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,297,671.14. The trade was a 3.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

NASDAQ VECO opened at $28.01 on Wednesday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $28.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.38. The company has a current ratio of 3.54, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.52 and a 12-month high of $49.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.75 and a beta of 1.15.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.01. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 10.92%. The business had revenue of $184.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VECO. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Benchmark cut their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.14.

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.

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