Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 66.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,688 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 57,655 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Veeco Instruments worth $769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,477,260 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $200,391,000 after acquiring an additional 110,825 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,091,995 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $69,308,000 after purchasing an additional 30,008 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,321 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $44,314,000 after purchasing an additional 22,850 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,676,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,106,888 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $29,665,000 after buying an additional 137,194 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of VECO traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $17.81. 637,022 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 729,573. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $20.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of 14.36 and a beta of 1.12. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.92 and a 52-week high of $49.25. 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 (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.14). Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 10.28%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VECO shares. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $35.00 target price (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Benchmark decreased their target price on Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.00.

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.