Kennedy Capital Management LLC Sells 18,090 Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 11.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 146,682 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 18,090 shares during the quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $5,159,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its position in Veeco Instruments by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 29,810 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $925,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.9% in the first quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 21,350 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co. increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 3.1% in the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 18,675 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $657,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.3% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 49,310 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,734,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 23,216 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of VECO stock traded down $0.92 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $38.76. 1,088,495 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 595,612. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.14. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.63 and a 1-year high of $49.25. The company has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -88.18 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 3.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.01. Veeco Instruments had a positive return on equity of 11.97% and a negative net margin of 2.51%. The firm had revenue of $174.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.00 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on VECO shares. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Citigroup lowered Veeco Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Barclays raised their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Dennis Thomas St sold 4,000 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.72, for a total transaction of $150,880.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 51,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,956,196.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Dennis Thomas St sold 4,000 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.72, for a total value of $150,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 51,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,956,196.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.46, for a total value of $121,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 94,809 shares in the company, valued at $4,594,444.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 39,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,526,205. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.