Baillie Gifford & Co. Raises Holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 23.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 778,280 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 147,269 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned about 1.37% of Veeco Instruments worth $20,858,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 47.4% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 28,001 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $928,000 after purchasing an additional 9,008 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 42.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 175,073 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $5,800,000 after purchasing an additional 52,328 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 130.6% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 4,659 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 67,809 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,202,000 after purchasing an additional 10,011 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In related 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 value of $61,275.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 72,642 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,780,455.42. This represents a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of VECO traded down $0.53 on Friday, reaching $24.73. The stock had a trading volume of 691,635 shares, compared to its average volume of 725,248. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a PE ratio of 19.94 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 3.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $26.28 and a 200 day moving average of $29.53. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.00 and a twelve month high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.14). Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 10.28%. Sell-side analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VECO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Benchmark lowered their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com lowered Veeco Instruments from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup lowered 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.43.

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.