Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Has $1.42 Million Stock Holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 17.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 52,808 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 7,660 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $1,415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of VECO. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 50.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,640,649 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $87,485,000 after buying an additional 883,815 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 20.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,216,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $73,428,000 after buying an additional 371,221 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 37.3% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,175,759 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $38,953,000 after buying an additional 319,451 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 165.0% during the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 370,917 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $12,288,000 after buying an additional 230,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 40.5% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 751,003 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $24,880,000 after buying an additional 216,616 shares during the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total transaction of $61,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on VECO shares. Benchmark cut their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $35.00 target price (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. 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 an average target price of $32.43.

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of VECO stock opened at $21.14 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $25.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.47. 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 $1.22 billion, a PE ratio of 17.05 and a beta of 1.24. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.50 and a 12-month high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 EPS 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%. As a group, analysts predict 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.