EFG Asset Management North America Corp. Has $3.12 Million Stock Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

EFG Asset Management North America Corp. lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 59.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 116,182 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 43,340 shares during the quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. owned approximately 0.20% of Veeco Instruments worth $3,115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 257.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 919 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 14,886 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares during the period. 272 Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,589 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $284,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835 shares during the period. Finally, Zacks Investment Management boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 87,249 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,891,000 after acquiring an additional 2,431 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

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

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 2.5 %

Veeco Instruments stock traded down $0.53 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $20.38. The stock had a trading volume of 572,205 shares, compared to its average volume of 707,040. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44 and a beta of 1.24. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $23.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.98. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.96 and a 1-year high of $49.25.

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 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on VECO shares. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $35.00 price objective (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Friday, February 7th. 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. Barclays dropped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.43.

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.