Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $14.37 Million in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 14,886 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 13,444 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 1,451 shares during the period. 272 Capital LP acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,589 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 1,835 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 72,642 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,780,455.42. This trade represents a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Benchmark reduced their price target 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. StockNews.com upgraded Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $25.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.00.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of VECO traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $19.36. 546,575 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 734,692. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 3.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.92 and a twelve month high of $49.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $20.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.20. The stock has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61 and a beta of 1.12.

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

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.