Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. $VECO

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reduced its stake in Veeco Instruments by 25.9%, owning 326,808 shares worth approximately $6.56 million after selling 114,009 shares in the first quarter.
• While Goldman Sachs decreased its holdings, other investors like Versant Capital Management increased their position by 396.2% during the same period, demonstrating varied investor sentiment towards Veeco.
• Veeco Instruments reported a quarterly revenue of $166.10 million, exceeding analysts' expectations, although it faced a 5.6% decrease in revenue compared to the same period last year.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 25.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 326,808 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 114,009 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.54% of Veeco Instruments worth $6,562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted 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 purchasing an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the first quarter worth about $37,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 213.9% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,139 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 2,139 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 33.6% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,366 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 75.9% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,672 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 1,584 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CEO William John Miller sold 25,000 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $625,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 470,671 shares in the company, valued at $11,766,775. This trade represents a 5.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Benchmark decreased their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.33.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of VECO stock opened at $25.34 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 5.10 and a quick ratio of 3.43. The firm's 50-day moving average is $22.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.05. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.92 and a 12 month high of $34.34. The company has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a PE ratio of 24.84 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Veeco Instruments Company Profile

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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