Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 76.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 128,249 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 55,624 shares during the quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC owned 0.23% of Veeco Instruments worth $3,437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Fund Management S.A. bought a new position in Veeco Instruments in the 4th quarter worth $835,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter worth about $14,373,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 388,451 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $10,410,000 after purchasing an additional 27,778 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 73.8% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 26,062 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $698,000 after purchasing an additional 11,067 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 62,602 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,678,000 after buying an additional 7,915 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VECO shares. Barclays reduced their target price on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Benchmark cut their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $35.00 target price (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $32.43.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on VECO
Insider Activity
In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total transaction of $61,275.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.
Veeco Instruments Stock Down 2.1 %
Shares of VECO stock traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $17.95. 726,144 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 726,637. The stock's fifty day moving average is $21.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.98 and a quick ratio of 2.69. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.92 and a 52-week high of $49.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 1.12.
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 (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%. Equities analysts predict that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.
Veeco Instruments Profile
(
Free Report)
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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