Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. Has $30,000 Stock Holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 84.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 650 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 3,413 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd.’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $30,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VECO. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,705,572 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $52,924,000 after purchasing an additional 135,687 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,645,701 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $82,096,000 after acquiring an additional 53,715 shares in the last quarter. Blue Grotto Capital LLC acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $11,476,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,739,727 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $209,134,000 after acquiring an additional 49,606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $713,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.04, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 2.9 %

NASDAQ VECO opened at $32.17 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a PE ratio of -71.49 and a beta of 1.17. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a one year low of $23.63 and a one year high of $49.25. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 2.32.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on VECO shares. Northland Securities cut their price target on Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup cut Veeco Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.57.

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.