Rhumbline Advisers Grows Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 163,066 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,125 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.29% of Veeco Instruments worth $4,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 14.8% in the 3rd 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 during the period. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,088 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,099 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 901 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 14,886 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Finally, 272 Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VECO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 target price (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays dropped their target price on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.43.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ VECO opened at $22.24 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.94 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 3.98, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.59 and a 12-month high of $49.25. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.10.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,780,455.42. This trade represents a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.