Fisher Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. $VECO

Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 32.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,324,590 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 325,357 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $40,307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VECO. Royce & Associates LP grew its stake in Veeco Instruments by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 519,573 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $15,811,000 after purchasing an additional 9,240 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 920.1% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 676,502 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $20,586,000 after buying an additional 610,187 shares during the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 27.7% during the third quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 72,212 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,197,000 after buying an additional 15,677 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 0.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,663,310 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $233,195,000 after buying an additional 62,016 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 7.4% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,111 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $156,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.17.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:VECO opened at $32.47 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $31.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 3.20 and a current ratio of 4.75. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.92 and a 1-year high of $35.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.03 and a beta of 1.17.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CEO William John Miller sold 25,000 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total value of $800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 464,543 shares in the company, valued at $14,865,376. The trade was a 5.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Veeco Instruments

Veeco Instruments Inc (NASDAQ: VECO) is a leading supplier of process equipment for the semiconductor, data storage, wireless communications, power electronics and advanced packaging industries. The company designs, manufactures and services precision tools used to grow, deposit and etch thin films on substrates, enabling the fabrication of chips, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and high-density storage devices. Veeco’s platforms are deployed across fabrication facilities worldwide, where they support key processes in materials science and device manufacturing.

Veeco’s product portfolio spans molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), ion beam etch and deposition, and high-precision wet and dry etch systems.