Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Shares Sold by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,669 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 493 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the third quarter valued at approximately $237,000. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter valued at about $543,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,569,885 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,129,000 after purchasing an additional 310,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Veeco Instruments by 7.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,690,121 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $188,059,000 after buying an additional 450,685 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:VECO opened at $47.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a current ratio of 3.05. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.40. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a one year low of $23.63 and a one year high of $48.48. The company has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -105.31 and a beta of 1.22.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. Veeco Instruments had a negative net margin of 2.51% and a positive return on equity of 11.97%. The firm had revenue of $174.48 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.00 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Barclays boosted their price target on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Veeco Instruments from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In other news, Director Dennis Thomas St sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,956,196.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.39, for a total value of $108,475.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $94,026.13. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Dennis Thomas St sold 4,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 51,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,956,196.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,500 shares of company stock worth $1,405,055 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

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.