Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Shares Sold by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC lowered its stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 64.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,158 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 5,764 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $85,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its position 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 worth $87,485,000 after buying an additional 883,815 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 20.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 371,221 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Veeco Instruments by 1.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,091,995 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $69,308,000 after purchasing an additional 30,008 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,321 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,314,000 after purchasing an additional 22,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 37.3% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,175,759 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $38,953,000 after purchasing an additional 319,451 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of VECO opened at $21.59 on Wednesday. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.05 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of 17.41 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50-day moving average is $24.30 and its 200-day moving average is $27.67. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.14). Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 10.28%. Equities analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,142 shares in the company, valued at $2,076,173.46. The trade was a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price target (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays decreased their target price on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup cut their price target 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. Finally, Benchmark decreased their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.43.

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.