Natixis Advisors LLC Lowers Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 12.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,554 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 4,178 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Veeco Instruments worth $765,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in Veeco Instruments by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 450,298 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $12,068,000 after purchasing an additional 62,300 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter worth $29,676,000. Amundi raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 191.5% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 29,137 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $820,000 after acquiring an additional 19,140 shares in the last quarter. Inceptionr LLC acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter valued at $263,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 4th quarter worth $14,373,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Trading Down 1.9 %

VECO opened at $21.30 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $23.64 and its 200-day moving average is $27.26. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.05 and a 52-week high of $49.25. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.18 and a beta of 1.24.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its quarterly 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%. Analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total transaction of $61,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 72,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,780,455.42. This trade represents a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Veeco Instruments Company 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.