US Bancorp DE Sells 1,345 Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

US Bancorp DE lessened its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 34.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,519 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,345 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $68,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 50.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,640,649 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $87,485,000 after purchasing an additional 883,815 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Veeco Instruments by 20.1% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,216,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $73,428,000 after buying an additional 371,221 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 37.3% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,175,759 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $38,953,000 after buying an additional 319,451 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its position in Veeco Instruments by 165.0% during the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 370,917 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $12,288,000 after acquiring an additional 230,971 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 40.5% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 751,003 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $24,880,000 after acquiring an additional 216,616 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VECO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Benchmark lowered their target price on Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.43.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total value of $61,275.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,780,455.42. This trade represents a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ:VECO opened at $21.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.66 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 3.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $24.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.77. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.05 and a 52 week high of $49.25.

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

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.