Advisor Resource Council Makes New $351,000 Investment in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Advisor Resource Council bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 18,184 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $351,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VECO. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 396.2% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,295 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 257.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 919 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 342.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,807 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 6,817 shares during the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP bought a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter worth $204,000. Finally, FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter worth $220,000. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their target price on Veeco Instruments from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 11,010 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total transaction of $225,705.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 89,254 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,829,707. This trade represents a 10.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Veeco Instruments stock traded up $0.01 during trading on Monday, hitting $19.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 475,297 shares, compared to its average volume of 744,171. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 4.44 and a quick ratio of 3.02. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.92 and a 52 week high of $49.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.43 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $19.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.59.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.05. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 8.29%. The company had revenue of $167.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $166.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. Veeco Instruments's revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.