Herald Investment Management Ltd Raises Stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Herald Investment Management Ltd raised its position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 25.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 175,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,000 shares during the period. Herald Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $4,690,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 257.4% during 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. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 14,886 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. increased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 13,444 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,451 shares during the last quarter. 272 Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,589 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835 shares during the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total value of $61,275.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,780,455.42. The trade was a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VECO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Benchmark cut their price target on shares of 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 issued a $35.00 price target (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.43.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

NASDAQ VECO opened at $17.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 1.12. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.92 and a 52-week high of $49.25. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $21.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.78. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 3.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current 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.