Pitcairn Co. Buys 1,451 Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Pitcairn Co. increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 12.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,444 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $360,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 257.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 919 shares during the period. 272 Capital LP purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the third quarter valued at $50,000. Sciencast Management LP bought a new position in Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter valued at about $204,000. Inceptionr LLC bought a new position in Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter valued at about $263,000. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Veeco Instruments by 21.0% in 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. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Benchmark reduced their price target 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. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.43.

Veeco Instruments Trading Down 3.6 %

Shares of VECO stock opened at $17.93 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.75. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.11 and a 52-week high of $49.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 14.46 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.98.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last issued its 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 net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 9.38%. On average, analysts predict that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.63, for a total transaction of $69,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,076,173.46. This trade represents a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Company 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.