Wasatch Advisors LP Cuts Stock Holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Wasatch Advisors LP decreased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 9.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,405,733 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 239,968 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP owned 4.27% of Veeco Instruments worth $84,610,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 29,810 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $925,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 23,216 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,752 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Intrust Bank NA boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 13,717 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,504 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of Veeco Instruments stock traded up $0.27 on Tuesday, hitting $47.19. 466,179 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 567,698. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a PE ratio of -104.86 and a beta of 1.22. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.63 and a 1 year high of $48.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a current ratio of 3.05.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $174.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.00 million. Veeco Instruments had a negative net margin of 2.51% and a positive return on equity of 11.97%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.29 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.39, for a total transaction of $108,475.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,026.13. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.39, for a total transaction of $108,475.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,026.13. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO William John Miller sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.19, for a total transaction of $1,145,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 515,091 shares in the company, valued at $19,671,325.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,500 shares of company stock worth $1,405,055 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

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.