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

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

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Veeco Instruments by 396.2% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,295 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter valued at about $204,000. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter valued at about $220,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 342.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,807 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 6,817 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In related news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 11,010 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total value 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 approximately $1,829,707. The trade was a 10.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of VECO traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $21.22. The company had a trading volume of 657,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 743,167. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.83 and a beta of 1.11. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.92 and a 52-week high of $49.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $19.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.51. The company has a quick ratio of 3.02, a current ratio of 4.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on VECO. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.43.

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.