Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Increases Stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 508,770 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 17,254 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.90% of Veeco Instruments worth $13,635,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VECO. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 50.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,640,649 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $87,485,000 after acquiring an additional 883,815 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 20.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,216,351 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $73,428,000 after buying an additional 371,221 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its stake 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 buying an additional 319,451 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 40.5% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 751,003 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $24,880,000 after acquiring an additional 216,616 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 185,228 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the company'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 transaction of $61,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 72,642 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,780,455.42. This represents a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VECO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays cut their target price on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Benchmark reduced their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $35.00 price objective (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.43.

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 2.9 %

Veeco Instruments stock traded up $0.61 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $21.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 546,726 shares, compared to its average volume of 682,013. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $23.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.98 and a quick ratio of 2.69. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.05 and a 12 month high of $49.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.56 and a beta of 1.24.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 10.28%. As a group, analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

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.