Proficio Capital Partners LLC Invests $311,000 in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 11,604 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VECO. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 14.8% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Veeco Instruments by 0.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 311,886 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $10,333,000 after purchasing an additional 2,583 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments during the third quarter worth approximately $295,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in Veeco Instruments by 32.2% during the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 631,011 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $20,905,000 after purchasing an additional 153,754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the third quarter worth $210,000. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.63, for a total transaction of $69,075.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,076,173.46. This trade represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

NASDAQ:VECO opened at $20.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.87 and a beta of 1.24. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a one year low of $20.05 and a one year high of $49.25. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $24.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.98 and a quick ratio of 2.69.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.14). Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 9.38%. Analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on VECO shares. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target 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. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Benchmark decreased their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price 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. Three equities 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.43.

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.