Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Stock Position Reduced by Los Angeles Capital Management LLC

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 31.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,707 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 4,370 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VECO. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the first quarter worth $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,180 shares in the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments in the 1st quarter worth about $99,000. nVerses Capital LLC raised its stake 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 worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ausbil Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 2nd quarter valued at about $200,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.04, for a total transaction of $72,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 85,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,472,523.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 4.0 %

VECO stock opened at $31.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -69.44 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50-day moving average of $37.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.59. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.63 and a 52-week high of $49.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 2.32.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped 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. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Northland Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.57.

About Veeco Instruments

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.