Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys New Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,321 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $44,314,000 after acquiring an additional 22,850 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 165.0% in the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 370,917 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $12,288,000 after acquiring an additional 230,971 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake 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 worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 919 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 493,039 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $13,213,000 after acquiring an additional 64,824 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PDT Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,109,000. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Veeco Instruments Price Performance

NASDAQ:VECO traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $21.16. The stock had a trading volume of 1,360,992 shares, compared to its average volume of 680,878. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of 17.06 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.98. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $23.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.49. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.05 and a 52 week high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on VECO shares. Benchmark dropped their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $35.00 price objective (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.63, for a total transaction of $69,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,142 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,076,173.46. The trade was a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.