Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $14.37 Million Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 536,304 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $14,373,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.94% of Veeco Instruments as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VECO. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 257.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 919 shares during the period. 272 Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Sciencast Management LP bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Inceptionr LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $263,000. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,589 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,642 shares in the company, valued at $1,780,455.42. The trade was a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 5.7 %

VECO traded up $1.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $19.23. The stock had a trading volume of 1,217,716 shares, compared to its average volume of 732,872. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $20.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.51 and a beta of 1.12. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.92 and a 1-year high of $49.25. 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 (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 9.38%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on VECO shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Benchmark decreased their target price on Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays decreased their price target on Veeco Instruments from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $35.00 price target (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.00.

About Veeco Instruments

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.