Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Shares Bought by EFG Asset Management North America Corp.

EFG Asset Management North America Corp. grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 59.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 116,182 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,340 shares during the quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp.’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $3,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of VECO. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 257.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 919 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 14,886 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. 272 Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 3rd quarter worth $50,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,589 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 2.9% in the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 87,249 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,891,000 after purchasing an additional 2,431 shares during the period. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VECO opened at $21.77 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.56 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $23.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.36. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.05 and a 52-week high of $49.25. 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 (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on VECO. StockNews.com raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price target (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Benchmark decreased their target price on Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.43.

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.