Aigen Investment Management LP Buys Shares of 24,037 Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Key Points

• Aigen Investment Management LP invested approximately $483,000 in Veeco Instruments by purchasing 24,037 shares during the first quarter.
• Analysts have mixed views on Veeco Instruments, with a consensus target price of $27.33 and ratings ranging from "buy" to "neutral."
• Veeco Instruments reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.36 for the latest quarter, beating estimates and showing a revenue of $166.10 million despite a 5.6% decline from the previous year.

Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 24,037 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $483,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Herald Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 14.3% during the first quarter. Herald Investment Management Ltd now owns 200,000 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $4,010,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 530,956 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $10,662,000 after purchasing an additional 22,186 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the first quarter valued at about $214,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 33.6% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,366 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 49.9% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 89,073 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,789,000 after purchasing an additional 29,659 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 11,010 shares of the business'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 value of $225,705.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 89,254 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,829,707. The trade was a 10.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of 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. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Veeco Instruments from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Benchmark decreased their target price on Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.33.

Veeco Instruments Trading Down 1.8%

VECO traded down $0.43 on Friday, hitting $23.82. The company had a trading volume of 675,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 855,396. The company has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a PE ratio of 23.35 and a beta of 1.12. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.92 and a 12-month high of $38.56. The company has a quick ratio of 3.43, a current ratio of 5.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $21.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.10.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.14. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 7.38% and a net margin of 8.65%. The firm had revenue of $166.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.31 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current 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.