Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC Has $387,000 Holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 24.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,441 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 4,656 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $387,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VECO. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 3,213.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,804 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $145,000 after acquiring an additional 4,659 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 249.0% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 430,757 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $14,271,000 after acquiring an additional 307,348 shares in the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 41.7% in the 3rd quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 32,076 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,063,000 after acquiring an additional 9,442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 311,886 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $10,333,000 after buying an additional 2,583 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of Veeco Instruments stock opened at $21.23 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $25.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.12 and a beta of 1.13. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.12 and a 52 week high of $49.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.98.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last posted 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total value of $61,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,780,455.42. The trade was a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on VECO shares. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup reduced 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. Benchmark reduced their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.43.

Veeco Instruments 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.