Invesco Ltd. Buys 27,778 Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 388,451 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 27,778 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 0.68% of Veeco Instruments worth $10,410,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter worth $29,676,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter worth $14,373,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 778,280 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $20,858,000 after purchasing an additional 147,269 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,106,888 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $29,665,000 after purchasing an additional 137,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,477,260 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $200,391,000 after purchasing an additional 110,825 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of VECO traded down $0.27 on Monday, reaching $19.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 359,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 734,399. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.92 and a 12-month high of $49.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.40 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.98 and a quick ratio of 2.69. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $20.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.99.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) 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%. Research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the business'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 transaction of $61,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,780,455.42. The trade was a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on VECO shares. Benchmark reduced 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 note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $35.00 price objective (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.