Geode Capital Management LLC Acquires 22,850 Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,337,321 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,850 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.36% of Veeco Instruments worth $44,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VECO. US Bancorp DE raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 14.8% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 28,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,331,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised 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 worth $69,000 after buying an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 130.6% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 752 shares during the period. Finally, Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 901 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total value of $81,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,642 shares in the company, valued at $2,696,608.46. This trade represents a 2.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VECO opened at $27.66 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 3.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.49 and a beta of 1.15. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.52 and a 12 month high of $49.25. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $28.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.08.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.01. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 10.92%. The business had revenue of $184.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. Veeco Instruments’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on VECO shares. StockNews.com upgraded Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Benchmark decreased their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.14.

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.