New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 3,300 Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,684 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 3,300 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.17% of Veeco Instruments worth $2,538,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 165.0% in the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 370,917 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $12,288,000 after acquiring an additional 230,971 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $44,314,000 after purchasing an additional 22,850 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Veeco Instruments by 42.6% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 175,073 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,800,000 after buying an additional 52,328 shares in the last quarter. PDT Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the third quarter worth $2,109,000. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp bought a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the 3rd quarter valued at $633,000. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 2.1 %

Veeco Instruments stock opened at $24.73 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.53. The company has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a PE ratio of 19.94 and a beta of 1.13. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.00 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25. 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 (NASDAQ:VECO) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 10.28%. Equities analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Benchmark reduced their target price on Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut Veeco Instruments from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.43.

Insider Activity

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the company’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 value of $61,275.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,780,455.42. This represents a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

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.