Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Acquires 22,186 Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. $VECO

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Veeco Instruments by 4.4%, acquiring an additional 22,186 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to 530,956 shares worth approximately $10.66 million.
• Veeco Instruments reported $0.36 EPS, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.22, despite a 5.6% year-over-year revenue decline to $166.10 million.
• Institutional investors hold 98.46% of Veeco Instruments' shares, indicating significant confidence from large investors in the semiconductor company's prospects.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 4.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 530,956 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 22,186 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.92% of Veeco Instruments worth $10,662,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 342.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,807 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $177,000 after acquiring an additional 6,817 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,747 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,380,000 after acquiring an additional 6,145 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 341,069 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $6,849,000 after acquiring an additional 13,182 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings 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 valued at $847,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 10,288.7% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 13,817 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 13,684 shares during the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VECO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Benchmark dropped their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 11,010 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total value of $225,705.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 89,254 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,829,707. This trade represents a 10.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Veeco Instruments Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of Veeco Instruments stock traded down $0.39 during trading on Friday, hitting $24.52. The stock had a trading volume of 924,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,068,403. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $22.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.06. The stock has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a PE ratio of 24.04 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 5.10 and a quick ratio of 3.43. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.92 and a 12 month high of $36.39.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $166.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $151.31 million. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 7.38%. The business's revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal 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.