Point72 Asset Management L.P. Increases Stock Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 3,668.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 199,067 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 193,785 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. owned approximately 0.35% of Veeco Instruments worth $5,335,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VECO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,477,260 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $200,391,000 after buying an additional 110,825 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in Veeco Instruments by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,792,850 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $74,848,000 after acquiring an additional 152,201 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 24.0% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,748,172 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $73,651,000 after purchasing an additional 531,821 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,242,750 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $60,107,000 after purchasing an additional 78,884 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,676,000. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of VECO traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $19.20. The company had a trading volume of 592,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 743,642. The company has a current ratio of 3.98, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.92 and a 12-month high of $49.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.80. The company has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.48 and a beta of 1.13.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $167.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $166.00 million. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 9.38%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VECO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $35.00 price objective (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Benchmark reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup lowered 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.43.

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.