Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Shares Sold by Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C

Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C lowered its position in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 60.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,918 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 7,484 shares during the quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 118,733 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,546,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 33.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 59,986 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,802,000 after purchasing an additional 14,991 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in Veeco Instruments by 7.9% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 124,628 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,821,000 after buying an additional 9,140 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 57.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 75,551 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,529,000 after buying an additional 27,476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 88.2% in the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 19,180 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $896,000 after buying an additional 8,988 shares during the period. 98.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 85,142 shares in the company, valued at $2,472,523.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ VECO opened at $33.53 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $35.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.30. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.63 and a 12-month high of $49.25. The company has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -74.51 and a beta of 1.17.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VECO. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup lowered shares of Veeco Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, July 15th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Veeco Instruments from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus 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.