Comerica Bank Has $11.91 Million Stock Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Comerica Bank increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 33.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 444,369 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 112,039 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank owned 0.78% of Veeco Instruments worth $11,909,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,676,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the 4th quarter valued at $14,373,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,748,172 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $73,651,000 after purchasing an additional 531,821 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 278.2% during the fourth quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC now owns 432,769 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $11,598,000 after purchasing an additional 318,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,792,850 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $74,848,000 after buying an additional 152,201 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VECO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Benchmark decreased their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.00.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 4.3 %

Veeco Instruments stock opened at $19.67 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86 and a beta of 1.12. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $20.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.98 and a quick ratio of 2.69. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.92 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 9.38%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

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 shares were sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total value of $61,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 72,642 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,780,455.42. The trade was a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.

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