115,074 Shares in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Acquired by Mirabella Financial Services LLP

Mirabella Financial Services LLP bought a new stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 115,074 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,702,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 5.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,131,073 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $250,800,000 after buying an additional 391,346 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 119.3% during the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 1,458,288 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $68,117,000 after acquiring an additional 793,429 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 37.3% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,175,759 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $38,953,000 after acquiring an additional 319,451 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 23.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 969,694 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $32,126,000 after purchasing an additional 185,228 shares during the period. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 40.5% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 751,003 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $24,880,000 after purchasing an additional 216,616 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Veeco Instruments stock opened at $27.40 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 3.54, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.83. The stock has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.30 and a beta of 1.17. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.52 and a 12-month high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.01. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 10.92% and a net margin of 11.34%. The company had revenue of $184.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. Veeco Instruments’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.04, for a total value of $72,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 85,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,472,523.68. This represents a 2.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 7,500 shares of company stock valued at $225,850 over the last three months. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VECO. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Benchmark decreased their target price on Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.14.

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.