Quest Partners LLC Increases Stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 47.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,922 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,853 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $296,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 130.6% in 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 last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 237.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 1,180 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position 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 during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 733.3% in the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on VECO shares. Benchmark dropped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Northland Securities dropped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.14.

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 2.1 %

Veeco Instruments stock opened at $27.97 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.54, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.75. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.52 and a 12 month high of $49.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.72 and a beta of 1.17.

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

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.67, for a total value of $71,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 80,142 shares in the company, valued at $2,297,671.14. This represents a 3.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 7,500 shares of company stock worth $225,850 over the last quarter. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.