Riverwater Partners LLC Purchases 23,913 Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Riverwater Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 35.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,722 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,913 shares during the period. Veeco Instruments makes up about 1.2% of Riverwater Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Riverwater Partners LLC’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $2,458,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,477,260 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $200,391,000 after purchasing an additional 110,825 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings 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 worth $69,308,000 after buying an additional 30,008 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 worth $44,314,000 after buying an additional 22,850 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,676,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of Veeco Instruments stock opened at $17.93 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.46 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 3.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.11 and a twelve month high of $49.25. The company’s fifty day moving average is $22.66 and its 200 day moving average is $26.78.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VECO shares. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $35.00 target price (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays decreased 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 dropped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.43.

Veeco Instruments 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.