Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Shares Bought by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 14.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,106,888 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 137,194 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned approximately 1.95% of Veeco Instruments worth $29,665,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VECO. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 4,659 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in 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 valued at $14,271,000 after acquiring an additional 307,348 shares during the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 valued at $1,063,000 after acquiring an additional 9,442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 311,886 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $10,333,000 after acquiring an additional 2,583 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on VECO shares. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $35.00 price target (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Benchmark lowered their price target on Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.43.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.63, for a total transaction of $69,075.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,142 shares in the company, valued at $2,076,173.46. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 3.1 %

NASDAQ:VECO traded down $0.66 on Thursday, reaching $20.65. The stock had a trading volume of 381,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 659,828. The company has a current ratio of 3.98, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a 50-day moving average of $25.56 and a 200 day moving average of $28.75. The stock has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.66 and a beta of 1.13. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.51 and a 12-month high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.