First Eagle Investment Management LLC Has $12.07 Million Stock Holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 16.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 450,298 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,300 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $12,068,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 257.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 919 shares in the last quarter. 272 Capital LP acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments in the third quarter worth about $50,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 46.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,088 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 14.8% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 721.7% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 5,341 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 4,691 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments 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 value 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VECO. StockNews.com raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Benchmark dropped their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed 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. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.43.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

VECO opened at $21.48 on Friday. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a one year low of $20.05 and a one year high of $49.25. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.32 and a beta of 1.24.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 9.38%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.