Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Has $19.56 Million Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P trimmed its position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 729,683 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 21,320 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned 1.29% of Veeco Instruments worth $19,556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VECO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,477,260 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $200,391,000 after acquiring an additional 110,825 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 50.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,640,649 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $87,485,000 after purchasing an additional 883,815 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,091,995 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $69,308,000 after purchasing an additional 30,008 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $44,314,000 after purchasing an additional 22,850 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,676,000. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

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Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of VECO stock traded up $0.04 on Tuesday, reaching $20.12. The company had a trading volume of 290,978 shares, compared to its average volume of 705,315. The business's 50-day moving average is $23.24 and its 200 day moving average is $27.04. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a one year low of $19.57 and a one year high of $49.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 3.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 16.18 and a beta of 1.24.

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 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $61,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 72,642 shares in the company, valued at $1,780,455.42. This trade represents a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VECO. StockNews.com raised Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. 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. Citigroup dropped their price target on 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 reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $35.00 price objective (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Benchmark decreased their target price 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.