Raymond James & Associates Increases Stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 42.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 175,073 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 52,328 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.31% of Veeco Instruments worth $5,800,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 0.5% during the second quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 67,588 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $3,156,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the period. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC now owns 21,350 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 18,675 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $657,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 28,500 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,331,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.3% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 49,310 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,734,000 after buying an additional 639 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VECO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Northland Securities dropped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $45.57.

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of VECO stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $28.79. The stock had a trading volume of 438,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 659,630. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $31.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 20.42 and a beta of 1.16. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.33 and a 52-week high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $175.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.03 million. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.21 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total transaction of $81,575.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 82,642 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,696,608.46. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

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.