Royce & Associates LP Purchases 76,760 Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 20.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 450,403 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 76,760 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned about 0.79% of Veeco Instruments worth $12,071,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 50.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 2,640,649 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $87,485,000 after acquiring an additional 883,815 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 20.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,216,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $73,428,000 after acquiring an additional 371,221 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,091,995 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $69,308,000 after acquiring an additional 30,008 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,321 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,314,000 after acquiring an additional 22,850 shares during the period. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 37.3% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,175,759 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $38,953,000 after acquiring an additional 319,451 shares during the period. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on VECO shares. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Benchmark dropped their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.43.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.63, for a total transaction of $69,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,076,173.46. This trade represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Veeco Instruments stock opened at $21.90 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $24.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.66 and a beta of 1.24. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.05 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The semiconductor company reported $0.26 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Veeco Instruments Company Profile

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.