Bank of Montreal Can Buys 7,651 Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 4.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 170,187 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,651 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned approximately 0.30% of Veeco Instruments worth $5,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mirabella Financial Services LLP purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the third quarter worth about $3,702,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 40.5% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 751,003 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $24,880,000 after acquiring an additional 216,616 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 969,694 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $32,126,000 after purchasing an additional 185,228 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 37.3% in 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. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the third quarter valued at approximately $529,000. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VECO has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered Veeco Instruments from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 28th. Benchmark decreased their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Northland Securities decreased their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.67, for a total value of $71,675.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 80,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,297,671.14. This trade represents a 3.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,500 shares of company stock valued at $225,850. 2.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 4.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ VECO opened at $29.07 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $29.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.44. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.52 and a 52-week high of $49.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a current ratio of 3.54. The company has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a PE ratio of 20.64 and a beta of 1.17.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $184.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.57 million. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 10.92% and a net margin of 11.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.