Invesco Ltd. Lowers Stock Holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. $VECO

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. reduced its stake in Veeco Instruments by 38.1%, selling 147,999 shares to hold 240,452 shares, valued at approximately $4.83 million.
• Analysts have varied opinions on Veeco Instruments, with Barclays and Goldman Sachs lowering their price targets to $21.00 and $20.00, respectively, while Needham & Company LLC raised its target to $30.00, giving the stock a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Veeco Instruments reported $0.36 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing estimates significantly, although revenue fell by 5.6% year-over-year, totaling $166.10 million.

Invesco Ltd. lessened its position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 38.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 240,452 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 147,999 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 0.42% of Veeco Instruments worth $4,828,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 538 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 847 shares during the period. Riverwater Partners LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 987 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 396.2% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,295 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 3.5% during 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 11,010 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total value of $225,705.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 89,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,829,707. This trade represents a 10.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on VECO shares. Benchmark lowered their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.33.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VECO traded down $0.78 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $23.74. The stock had a trading volume of 579,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,049,694. The firm has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.27 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 5.10, a quick ratio of 3.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.92 and a fifty-two week high of $34.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $22.18 and a 200-day moving average of $21.04.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. The business's revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Veeco Instruments 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.