Northern Trust Corp Reduces Stock Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. $VECO

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp reduced its stake in Veeco Instruments by 2.0%, owning 649,286 shares worth approximately $13 million after selling 13,141 shares in the first quarter.
• Veeco Instruments reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.36, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.22, despite a year-over-year revenue decline of 5.6%.
• Multiple analysts have lowered their target price for Veeco, with the average consensus target at $27.33 and a general rating of "Moderate Buy."

Northern Trust Corp lowered its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 649,286 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 13,141 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.11% of Veeco Instruments worth $13,038,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the first quarter worth $37,000. Versor Investments LP bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the first quarter valued at about $309,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 55.8% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 835,539 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $16,778,000 after buying an additional 299,235 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 70.2% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 37,390 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $751,000 after buying an additional 15,427 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 46.3% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 5,841 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,849 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of VECO stock opened at $23.59 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.13 and a beta of 1.23. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.92 and a 52 week high of $34.34. The company has a quick ratio of 3.43, a current ratio of 5.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $22.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.06.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $166.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $151.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.

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