Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Reduces Stock Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. $VECO

Key Points

• Arrowstreet Capital reduced its Veeco Instruments position by 46.5% in the first quarter, selling 123,717 shares and retaining 142,430 shares worth approximately $4.8 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 98.46% of the stock.
• Veeco’s latest quarterly results fell short of expectations, with EPS of $0.14 versus the $0.20 consensus and revenue of $158.34 million versus estimates of $160.07 million. Revenue declined 5.4% year over year.
• Insiders sold 339,055 shares worth about $20.7 million over the past 90 days, while analysts’ consensus rating remains “Hold” with an average price target of $40.60.

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership cut its holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 46.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 142,430 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 123,717 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 0.23% of Veeco Instruments worth $4,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 75.6% in the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,366 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 125.6% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,461 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,370 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments in the third quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 16,961.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 3,583 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 3,562 shares during the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of VECO opened at $50.97 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a current ratio of 4.23. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.29 and a fifty-two week high of $86.63. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.84. The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 134.14 and a beta of 1.38.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.06). Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 3.53% and a return on equity of 3.49%. The company had revenue of $158.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.37 EPS. The business's revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gordon Hunter sold 29,532 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total value of $1,754,496.12. Following the sale, the director owned 52,676 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,129,481.16. The trade was a 35.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $650,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 85,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,532,475. This trade represents a 10.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 339,055 shares of company stock valued at $20,705,270. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $40.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings raised Veeco Instruments from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Veeco Instruments from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $40.60.

Veeco Instruments Profile

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.

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