Rhumbline Advisers Sells 5,262 Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Rhumbline Advisers cut its position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 3.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 161,737 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 5,262 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.29% of Veeco Instruments worth $7,555,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 237.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 1,180 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Veeco Instruments in the first quarter valued at approximately $99,000. nVerses Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 733.3% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ausbil Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 2nd quarter valued at $200,000. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of VECO opened at $31.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.63 and a twelve month high of $49.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -69.44 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50 day moving average of $37.86 and a 200-day moving average of $38.57.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The firm had revenue of $175.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.03 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.21 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.04, for a total value of $72,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 85,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,472,523.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VECO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Citigroup downgraded Veeco Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.57.

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.