Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Shares Acquired by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 24.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,748,172 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 531,821 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 4.84% of Veeco Instruments worth $73,651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VECO. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 919 shares during the period. 272 Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Sciencast Management LP bought a new position in Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter worth approximately $204,000. Inceptionr LLC purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments during the 4th quarter worth $263,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 54.9% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 10,009 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 3,548 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on VECO. Benchmark cut their price target 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. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $35.00 target price (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of 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 price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.00.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 4.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ VECO traded up $0.81 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $19.67. 696,108 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 735,698. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.92 and a 12 month high of $49.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $20.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.68. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 3.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of 15.86 and a beta of 1.13.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total value of $61,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 72,642 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,780,455.42. This trade represents a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.