Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 26,510 Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 812,728 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 26,510 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 1.44% of Veeco Instruments worth $25,219,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Veeco Instruments by 1,311.0% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,284 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,193 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 28.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,543 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 782 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in Veeco Instruments during the third quarter valued at approximately $211,000. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on VECO shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup raised their target price on Veeco Instruments from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $39.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Veeco Instruments news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 5,000 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.10, for a total transaction of $170,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 67,278 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,294,179.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.10, for a total value of $170,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 67,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,294,179.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO William John Miller sold 24,201 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $854,295.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 545,091 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,241,712.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of VECO traded down $1.22 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $38.07. The company had a trading volume of 613,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 529,129. The company has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -59.02 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 3.24 and a quick ratio of 2.15. The company's 50-day moving average is $35.34 and its 200-day moving average is $31.91. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.42 and a twelve month high of $40.30.

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