PDT Partners LLC Cuts Stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

PDT Partners LLC decreased its position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 24.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,040 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 15,617 shares during the period. PDT Partners LLC owned about 0.08% of Veeco Instruments worth $1,287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 257.4% during 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 last quarter. 272 Capital LP purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Sciencast Management LP bought a new position in Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter worth about $204,000. Inceptionr LLC purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter worth about $263,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 54.9% in the fourth 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 during the period. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total transaction of $61,275.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

NASDAQ VECO traded down $0.15 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $19.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 75,315 shares, compared to its average volume of 733,098. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a one year low of $16.92 and a one year high of $49.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 15.56 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.98 and a quick ratio of 2.69. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $19.92 and a 200 day moving average of $24.56.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 9.38%. Analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on VECO. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Benchmark reduced their price target on Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $35.00 price objective (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.00.

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.