Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Shares Purchased by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 493,039 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 64,824 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.87% of Veeco Instruments worth $13,213,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VECO. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 257.4% during the 4th 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 during the period. 272 Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the third quarter worth about $50,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 46.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,088 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 14.8% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 721.7% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 5,341 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $177,000 after acquiring an additional 4,691 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 2.3 %

VECO opened at $21.40 on Thursday. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.05 and a 1-year high of $49.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.26 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.98 and a quick ratio of 2.69. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $24.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.11.

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Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 10.28%. Analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total transaction of $61,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays reduced their price target on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Benchmark cut their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.43.

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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