Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Shares Purchased by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 33,812 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,798 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.06% of Veeco Instruments worth $1,049,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,690,121 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $188,059,000 after purchasing an additional 450,685 shares during the last quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the 4th quarter worth $3,599,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the 4th quarter worth $875,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 24.6% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,569,885 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,129,000 after purchasing an additional 310,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 168,501 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,737,000 after purchasing an additional 9,090 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of VECO opened at $35.16 on Monday. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.70 and a 12-month high of $37.75. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $35.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 3.24.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The semiconductor company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $173.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.00 million. Veeco Instruments had a negative net margin of 4.56% and a positive return on equity of 11.10%. Equities research analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on VECO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $36.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.57.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In related news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.10, for a total value of $170,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 67,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,294,179.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Veeco Instruments news, CEO William John Miller sold 24,201 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $854,295.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 545,091 shares in the company, valued at $19,241,712.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.10, for a total transaction of $170,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 67,278 shares in the company, valued at $2,294,179.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.