MQS Management LLC Purchases New Stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 15,889 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $319,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Veeco Instruments by 9.8% in the first 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 period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 341,069 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $6,849,000 after purchasing an additional 13,182 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 75.9% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,672 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,584 shares during the period. Advisor Resource Council bought a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the 1st quarter valued at $351,000. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.1% in the first quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 92,709 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,862,000 after buying an additional 987 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of VECO traded down $0.02 on Friday, reaching $21.54. 299,901 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 734,966. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $20.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.80. The stock has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.11 and a beta of 1.10. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.92 and a 52-week high of $43.51. 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.05. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 8.29% and a net margin of 8.99%. The company had revenue of $167.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $166.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VECO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of 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. 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 note on Friday, May 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.43.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 11,010 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total transaction of $225,705.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 89,254 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,829,707. This represents a 10.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

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.