Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors Makes New $621,000 Investment in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 30,495 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $621,000. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors owned about 0.05% of Veeco Instruments as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments in the 4th quarter worth about $14,373,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Veeco Instruments by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 31,609 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $847,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. 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 acquiring an additional 919 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 10,288.7% during the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 13,817 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 13,684 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 110,825 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VECO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Veeco Instruments from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.43.

Veeco Instruments Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ VECO opened at $20.23 on Friday. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.92 and a 1-year high of $49.25. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $19.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.91 and a beta of 1.11. 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 (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.05. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 8.29%. The business had revenue of $167.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $166.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veeco Instruments news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 11,010 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 10.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

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.

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