Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Has $2.97 Million Stock Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 86.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 110,838 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 51,526 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned approximately 0.20% of Veeco Instruments worth $2,970,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 257.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 919 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 31,609 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $847,000 after buying an additional 1,067 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co. boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 13,444 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 1,451 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 474,391 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $12,715,000 after buying an additional 1,799 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 33,962 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $910,000 after acquiring an additional 1,887 shares during the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on VECO. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $35.00 price objective (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Benchmark dropped their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note 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 on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $30.43.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 4.2%

Shares of Veeco Instruments stock traded up $0.82 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $20.16. The stock had a trading volume of 286,328 shares, compared to its average volume of 746,784. The company has a current ratio of 3.98, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.26 and a beta of 1.13. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.92 and a 52 week high of $49.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $19.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.31.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business's quarterly revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.