Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Has $3.52 Million Stock Holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. $VECO

Key Points

• Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 61.9%, now owning 175,287 shares valued at approximately $3.52 million.
• Veeco Instruments reported better-than-expected earnings with an EPS of $0.36, surpassing analysts' estimates of $0.22, despite a 5.6% decline in revenue compared to the previous year.
• Analysts' price targets for Veeco Instruments has been revised downwards by some, with the average target now at $27.33 following recent assessments.

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 61.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 175,287 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 67,001 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC owned 0.30% of Veeco Instruments worth $3,520,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VECO. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 9,391 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 538 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Veeco Instruments by 33.6% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,366 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 847 shares during the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC lifted its position in Veeco Instruments by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 92,709 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,862,000 after acquiring an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 396.2% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,295 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 31,609 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO William John Miller sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $625,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 470,671 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,766,775. This trade represents a 5.04% 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 hyperlink. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on VECO shares. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Benchmark dropped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.33.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

VECO stock traded up $0.42 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $25.23. 1,117,310 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 838,871. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.92 and a twelve month high of $34.34. The company has a current ratio of 5.10, a quick ratio of 3.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.74 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.05.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.36 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $151.31 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share 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.