Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Shares Sold by Loomis Sayles & Co. L P

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lessened its stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 729,683 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 21,320 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned 1.29% of Veeco Instruments worth $19,556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 257.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 919 shares during the period. 272 Capital LP acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 721.7% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 5,341 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $177,000 after buying an additional 4,691 shares during the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments during the 4th quarter worth $204,000. Finally, Inceptionr LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 4th quarter worth $263,000. 98.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on VECO. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price target (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Benchmark dropped their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.43.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was 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 owns 72,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,780,455.42. This trade represents a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Veeco Instruments stock opened at $20.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 3.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.15. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.96 and a 52 week high of $49.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of 16.44 and a beta of 1.24.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.14). Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 9.38%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.