Phocas Financial Corp. Invests $3.60 Million in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Phocas Financial Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 115,984 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $3,599,000. Phocas Financial Corp. owned 0.21% of Veeco Instruments as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VECO. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 315.4% during the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 4,644 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 3,526 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 5.9% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 520,086 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $14,139,000 after acquiring an additional 29,035 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments during the first quarter worth $815,000. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 8.9% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 53,649 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,459,000 after acquiring an additional 4,403 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 48.7% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,558 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $124,000 after acquiring an additional 1,492 shares during the period. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on VECO. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.57.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In other news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.10, for a total transaction of $170,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 67,278 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,294,179.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO William John Miller sold 24,201 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $854,295.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 545,091 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,241,712.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.10, for a total transaction of $170,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 67,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,294,179.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 59,201 shares of company stock valued at $1,926,895. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Veeco Instruments Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of VECO traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $35.79. The stock had a trading volume of 592,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 519,343. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 2.15. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.70 and a 52-week high of $37.75. The business's fifty day moving average is $34.99 and its 200 day moving average is $30.92. The firm has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -55.69 and a beta of 1.20.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The semiconductor company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.09. Veeco Instruments had a negative net margin of 4.56% and a positive return on equity of 11.10%. The firm had revenue of $173.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.00 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Veeco Instruments

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.