New York State Common Retirement Fund Grows Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 433,440 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 2,683 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.76% of Veeco Instruments worth $11,616,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 47.4% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 28,001 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $928,000 after purchasing an additional 9,008 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 42.6% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 175,073 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,800,000 after purchasing an additional 52,328 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 130.6% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 752 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 3,213.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,804 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 4,659 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 14.8% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VECO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC decreased 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. Citigroup lowered their price objective 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. Benchmark cut their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.43.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VECO opened at $24.26 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 3.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.00 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.38. The stock has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a PE ratio of 19.56 and a beta of 1.13.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share 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%. Analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total value of $61,275.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,780,455.42. This represents a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.