Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Cuts Stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lessened its holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 4.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,978 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 329 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $373,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crestline Management LP grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 155.7% during the fourth quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 109,286 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,391,000 after buying an additional 66,544 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,705,572 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $52,924,000 after acquiring an additional 135,687 shares during the period. RK Capital Management LLC grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. RK Capital Management LLC now owns 440,100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,656,000 after acquiring an additional 16,300 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,645,701 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $82,096,000 after purchasing an additional 53,715 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Grotto Capital LLC bought a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,476,000. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of VECO stock opened at $33.53 on Friday. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.63 and a 12 month high of $49.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a PE ratio of -74.51 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $35.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.28.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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 is accessible through the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup cut shares of Veeco Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.