Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC Purchases 318,345 Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 278.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 432,769 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 318,345 shares during the period. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC owned 0.76% of Veeco Instruments worth $11,598,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VECO. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,676,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 4th quarter valued at about $14,373,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 23.3% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 778,280 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $20,858,000 after acquiring an additional 147,269 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,106,888 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $29,665,000 after acquiring an additional 137,194 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,477,260 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $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 and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments 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 transaction of $61,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 72,642 shares in the company, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on VECO. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $35.00 target price (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Benchmark dropped their target price 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $32.43.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of Veeco Instruments stock traded down $0.39 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $17.95. The company had a trading volume of 726,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 727,774. The company has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 3.98, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.78. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.92 and a 1-year high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.14). Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 10.28% and a return on equity of 9.38%. As a group, equities research 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.