Vanguard Group Inc. Lowers Stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. $VECO

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. by 0.3% during the first quarter, owning 12.87% of the company worth approximately $149.69 million after selling 22,439 shares.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own around 98.46% of Veeco Instruments, with various firms like Mackenzie Financial and US Bancorp DE increasing their positions in the stock.
• Veeco Instruments reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.36 for the recent quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.22, but its revenue decreased by 5.6% compared to the previous year.

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,454,821 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 22,439 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.87% of Veeco Instruments worth $149,693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 396.2% during 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 during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted 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 worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 2,139 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 33.6% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,366 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 847 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake 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 valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 342.6% during 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 Price Performance

NASDAQ VECO traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $24.77. 1,208,309 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 915,969. The firm's 50-day moving average is $21.76 and its 200-day moving average is $21.03. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.92 and a 52-week high of $36.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 5.10 and a quick ratio of 3.43. The company has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a PE ratio of 24.28 and a beta of 1.12.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.14. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 7.38%. The business had revenue of $166.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $151.31 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In related news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 11,010 shares of the 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 trade represents a 10.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.30% 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.