Nordea Investment Management AB Has $7.79 Million Stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 284,686 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,483 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $7,786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in VECO. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 130.6% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 752 shares during the period. 272 Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the third quarter worth $50,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Veeco Instruments by 46.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,088 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Veeco Instruments by 116.2% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,626 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 1,949 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its stake in 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 in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VECO shares. Citigroup raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Benchmark dropped their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.71.

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 Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.67, for a total transaction of $71,675.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,297,671.14. This represents a 3.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Veeco Instruments stock opened at $28.15 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $27.82 and a 200-day moving average of $33.47. The company has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.85 and a beta of 1.15. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.52 and a 1 year high of $49.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 3.54 and a quick ratio of 2.41.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $184.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.57 million. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 10.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current 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.