Veeco Instruments Inc. $VECO Stock Position Cut by Vanguard Group Inc.

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

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,139 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 33.6% in 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 lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of 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. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

VECO stock traded up $1.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $25.25. 781,113 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 897,977. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.76 and a beta of 1.12. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.92 and a 52 week high of $38.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $21.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.03. The company has a quick ratio of 3.43, a current ratio of 5.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.14. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 7.38%. The company had revenue of $166.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $151.31 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In related news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 11,010 shares of the 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 sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Benchmark reduced their target price on Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays reduced their target price on 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. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Veeco Instruments from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.33.

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.