Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Shares Purchased by GSA Capital Partners LLP

Key Points

• GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 49.9%, acquiring an additional 29,659 shares during the first quarter, bringing their total ownership to 89,073 shares valued at approximately $1.79 million.
• Analysts have lowered price targets for Veeco Instruments, with Goldman Sachs setting a new target of $20.00 and Barclays at $21.00, while the company maintains a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Veeco Instruments reported $0.37 EPS for the latest quarter, beating estimates, although their revenue decreased by 4.1% year-over-year, amounting to $167.29 million.

GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 49.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 89,073 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 29,659 shares during the quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP owned 0.15% of Veeco Instruments worth $1,789,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of VECO. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter worth $324,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,477,260 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $200,391,000 after purchasing an additional 110,825 shares during the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 13,444 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 35.3% in the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 91,722 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,458,000 after buying an additional 23,913 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 221,912 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $5,947,000 after buying an additional 50,045 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on VECO shares. Barclays reduced their target price on 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 reduced their target price 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.43.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In related news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 11,010 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were 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 directly owned 89,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,829,707. The trade was a 10.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Veeco Instruments Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of Veeco Instruments stock traded down $0.38 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $20.40. 397,862 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 717,058. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.92 and a 52-week high of $38.88. The company has a fifty day moving average of $20.68 and a 200-day moving average of $21.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.06 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 4.44, a quick ratio of 3.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm 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 firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. Veeco Instruments's revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal 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.