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

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

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

VECO has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $35.00 target price (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup reduced 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 report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,642 shares in the company, valued at $1,780,455.42. This represents a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of VECO stock opened at $20.38 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.15. The company has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of 16.44 and a beta of 1.24. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.96 and a twelve 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.14). Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 9.38%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veeco Instruments 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.