Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 4.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 341,069 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,182 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.59% of Veeco Instruments worth $6,849,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 75.9% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,672 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 1,584 shares in the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter worth approximately $204,000. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter worth approximately $220,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 342.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,807 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $177,000 after acquiring an additional 6,817 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

VECO traded down $0.13 on Friday, reaching $21.42. The company had a trading volume of 755,598 shares, compared to its average volume of 733,434. The company has a quick ratio of 3.02, a current ratio of 4.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.92 and a 1 year high of $43.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.02 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $20.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.77.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $167.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $166.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. The business's revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VECO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Veeco Instruments from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $30.43.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In other news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 11,010 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

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.