Kendall Capital Management Sells 960 Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Kendall Capital Management lessened its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,980 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 960 shares during the period. Kendall Capital Management’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $267,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 257.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 919 shares in the last quarter. 272 Capital LP bought a new position in Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,088 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 721.7% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 5,341 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 4,691 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 1.7 %

Veeco Instruments stock opened at $21.14 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $25.16 and a 200 day moving average of $28.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.05 and a beta of 1.24. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.73 and a 12-month high of $49.25. The company has a current ratio of 3.98, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current 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 shares were sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total transaction of $61,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on VECO shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 target price (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Benchmark lowered their target price 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.