Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 508,770 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,254 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.90% of Veeco Instruments worth $13,635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VECO. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 3rd quarter valued at $295,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments in the 3rd quarter worth $327,000. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,088 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 95.8% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 32,732 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,084,000 after buying an additional 16,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 47.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 8,922 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 2,853 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.51, for a total value of $61,275.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 72,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,780,455.42. This trade represents a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 2.2 %

VECO stock opened at $21.16 on Friday. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.05 and a 12-month high of $49.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 3.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.06 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $23.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.49.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on VECO. Citigroup cut their target price 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. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price 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. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 target price (down from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Friday, February 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.43.

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.