Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Purchases 919 Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 257.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,276 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 919 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $35,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,106,888 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,665,000 after acquiring an additional 137,194 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 4th quarter valued at about $311,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB bought a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 4th quarter valued at about $415,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 433,440 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $11,616,000 after purchasing an additional 2,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 327,887 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $8,787,000 after purchasing an additional 16,001 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in 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. Oppenheimer reaffirmed 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. Barclays cut their target price 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. Benchmark cut their target price 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, StockNews.com raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.43.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 72,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,780,455.42. This represents a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of VECO opened at $21.40 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of 17.26 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.98. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.05 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.11.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last issued its 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 return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 10.28%. Analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.