Royce & Associates LP Purchases 26,560 Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 5.9%, acquiring 26,560 shares and owning a total of 476,963 shares, valued at approximately $9.58 million.
• Veeco Instruments reported quarterly earnings of $0.37 per share, surpassing analyst expectations of $0.32, but showing a 4.1% decline in revenue year-over-year.
• Analysts have issued varied price targets for Veeco, with Goldman Sachs lowering its target from $27.00 to $20.00, while the consensus rating remains a "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $30.43.

Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 5.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 476,963 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 26,560 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned 0.82% of Veeco Instruments worth $9,577,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 396.2% in the 1st 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 boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 213.9% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,139 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 2,139 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 75.9% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,672 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,584 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position 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 during the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter worth about $220,000. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VECO opened at $20.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 3.02 and a current ratio of 4.44. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.92 and a 52 week high of $41.64. The firm has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of 19.46 and a beta of 1.10. The firm's fifty day moving average is $20.56 and its 200-day moving average is $21.53.

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

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In related news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 11,010 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction 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 $1,829,707. This trade 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 available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.

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