Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Shares Sold by Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC

Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC trimmed its position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 42.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 419,207 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 311,928 shares during the quarter. Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $11,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VECO. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 257.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 919 shares during the last quarter. 272 Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the third quarter worth $50,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of 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 shares of Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter worth $204,000. Finally, Inceptionr LLC acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter valued at $263,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.63, for a total transaction of $69,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,076,173.46. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Veeco Instruments Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of VECO stock opened at $21.30 on Thursday. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.05 and a 1-year high of $49.25. The company has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.18 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.98 and a quick ratio of 2.69. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.26.

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 return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 10.28%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VECO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Benchmark cut their price target on Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 target price (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.