Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Buys 28,193 Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 34.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 109,301 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 28,193 shares during the quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned approximately 0.19% of Veeco Instruments worth $2,929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,676,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter worth approximately $14,373,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,748,172 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $73,651,000 after acquiring an additional 531,821 shares during the period. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 278.2% in the fourth quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC now owns 432,769 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $11,598,000 after purchasing an additional 318,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,792,850 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $74,848,000 after purchasing an additional 152,201 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on VECO. Benchmark lowered their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective 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. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.43.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of VECO stock traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $21.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 361,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 742,080. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.92 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $19.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.17. 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 capitalization of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.15 and a beta of 1.13.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 10.28%. The business had revenue of $167.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $166.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. Veeco Instruments's revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share 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.