240,392 Shares in Veeco Instruments Inc. $VECO Bought by Nuveen LLC

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC has acquired 240,392 shares of Veeco Instruments Inc., investing approximately $4.83 million and owning about 0.41% of the company.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in Veeco, with 98.46% of the stock now held by such investors and hedge funds.
• Veeco Instruments posted earnings of $0.36 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, although its revenue declined 5.6% year-over-year.

Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 240,392 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $4,827,000. Nuveen LLC owned about 0.41% of Veeco Instruments at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 396.2% in 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. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 213.9% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,139 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 2,139 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of 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 last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 1,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 342.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,807 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $177,000 after buying an additional 6,817 shares during the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In related news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 11,010 shares of the company'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 transaction of $225,705.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on VECO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Veeco Instruments from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC lifted 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. Benchmark cut their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.33.

Veeco Instruments Trading Down 1.6%

Veeco Instruments stock traded down $0.39 during trading on Monday, hitting $24.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 924,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,080,629. The stock's fifty day moving average is $22.13 and its 200 day moving average is $21.02. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.92 and a 1-year high of $36.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.04 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 3.43 and a current ratio of 5.10.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $151.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS 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.