Needham Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Needham Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 731,000 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 53,500 shares during the quarter. Veeco Instruments makes up about 1.5% of Needham Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Needham Investment Management LLC owned 1.29% of Veeco Instruments worth $19,591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 257.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 919 shares during the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter worth about $204,000. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter worth about $220,000. Inceptionr LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter worth about $263,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 54.9% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 10,009 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 3,548 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of VECO stock traded down $0.71 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $20.55. 483,735 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 741,620. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $19.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.12. 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. The firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57 and a beta of 1.13.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.05. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 9.38%. The company had revenue of $167.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $166.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VECO has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $35.00 target price (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. 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 report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $30.43.

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.