Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 4.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 341,069 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,182 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.59% of Veeco Instruments worth $6,849,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $14,373,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 24.0% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,748,172 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $73,651,000 after purchasing an additional 531,821 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 278.2% in the 4th quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC now owns 432,769 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $11,598,000 after purchasing an additional 318,345 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 125.2% in the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 349,785 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $9,374,000 after purchasing an additional 194,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 3,668.8% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 199,067 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $5,335,000 after purchasing an additional 193,785 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on VECO. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Veeco Instruments from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Veeco Instruments 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 value of $225,705.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 89,254 shares in the company, valued at $1,829,707. This represents a 10.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ:VECO traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $21.42. 755,598 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 733,435. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a one year low of $16.92 and a one year high of $43.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 4.44 and a quick ratio of 3.02. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $20.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.77. The company has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.02 and a beta of 1.10.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.05. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 8.29%. The business had revenue of $167.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $166.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS 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.