Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Cuts Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lessened its position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,279,749 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 113,794 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 4.02% of Veeco Instruments worth $106,488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Veeco Instruments by 237.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the first quarter worth approximately $99,000. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 733.3% in the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ausbil Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the second quarter worth approximately $200,000. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.04, for a total value of $72,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 85,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,472,523.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 0.6 %

VECO opened at $31.78 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a current ratio of 3.52. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.63 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $35.91 and its 200 day moving average is $38.39. The stock has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -70.62 and a beta of 1.17.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $175.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.03 million. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.21 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Northland Securities dropped their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup cut shares of Veeco Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.57.

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.