US Bancorp DE Sells 1,345 Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

US Bancorp DE lowered its stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 34.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,519 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,345 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $68,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in VECO. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 50.3% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,640,649 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $87,485,000 after acquiring an additional 883,815 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 20.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,216,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $73,428,000 after purchasing an additional 371,221 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,091,995 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $69,308,000 after purchasing an additional 30,008 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.7% during the 3rd 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. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 37.3% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,175,759 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $38,953,000 after purchasing an additional 319,451 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VECO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Benchmark cut their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.43.

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 2.0 %

VECO stock opened at $21.90 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of 17.66 and a beta of 1.24. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $20.05 and a one year high of $49.25. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $24.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.77.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In other 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 72,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,780,455.42. This trade represents a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company 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.