Victory Capital Management Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 37.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 478,688 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 284,141 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $22,360,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,131,073 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $250,800,000 after purchasing an additional 391,346 shares during the period. Blue Grotto Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter worth about $11,476,000. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Veeco Instruments in the 2nd quarter valued at $8,857,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew 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 valued at $52,924,000 after purchasing an additional 135,687 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 132.1% in the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 195,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,858,000 after purchasing an additional 111,000 shares during the period. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 85,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,472,523.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Veeco Instruments stock opened at $30.34 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.66. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.63 and a twelve month high of $49.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of -67.42 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.01). Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The company had revenue of $175.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.03 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.2 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VECO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted 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. Citigroup lowered shares of Veeco Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.