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

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 536,304 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,373,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.94% of Veeco Instruments as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Veeco Instruments by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 52,808 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after acquiring an additional 7,660 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the 4th quarter valued at about $311,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Veeco Instruments by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 493,039 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $13,213,000 after acquiring an additional 64,824 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Veeco Instruments by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 508,770 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $13,635,000 after acquiring an additional 17,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 919 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ VECO opened at $21.59 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.41 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $24.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.98. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.05 and a 52-week high of $49.25.

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

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total value of $61,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 72,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,780,455.42. The trade was a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Benchmark lowered their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.43.

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.