Squarepoint Ops LLC Sells 19,948 Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Squarepoint Ops LLC decreased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 16.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 102,818 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 19,948 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned about 0.18% of Veeco Instruments worth $2,756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Veeco Instruments by 257.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 919 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 14,886 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 31,609 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $847,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. lifted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 13,444 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Veeco Instruments by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 474,391 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $12,715,000 after purchasing an additional 1,799 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 2.4%

VECO traded down $0.48 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $19.31. 1,032,203 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 749,210. The company has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57 and a beta of 1.13. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a one year low of $16.92 and a one year high of $49.25. The company's fifty day moving average price is $19.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.36. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $167.29 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $166.00 million. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 10.28%. Veeco Instruments's quarterly revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VECO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Veeco Instruments from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Benchmark dropped 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. Needham & Company LLC reduced 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, Citigroup dropped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.