Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Holdings Lowered by Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC

Key Points

• Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC has reduced its stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. by 3.4% to approximately $8.1 million, while other institutional investors have significantly increased their holdings during the same period.
• Veeco Instruments reported earnings of $0.36 per share for the most recent quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, despite a 5.6% decline in revenue year-over-year.
• Barclays and Goldman Sachs recently lowered their price targets for Veeco Instruments, indicating a cautious outlook amidst a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $30.43.

Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 3.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 404,852 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 14,355 shares during the period. Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC owned about 0.70% of Veeco Instruments worth $8,129,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of 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 buying an additional 1,034 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 213.9% during 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 during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its position in 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 buying an additional 847 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in 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 buying an additional 1,584 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in 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 buying an additional 6,817 shares during the period. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

VECO opened at $19.94 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of 18.64 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $20.75 and a 200-day moving average of $21.19. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.92 and a 52-week high of $38.88. 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 (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $166.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.31 million. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 8.29% and a net margin of 8.99%. The firm's revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 11,010 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total transaction of $225,705.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 89,254 shares in the company, valued at $1,829,707. This represents a 10.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on VECO. Barclays dropped their price target 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. 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 research report on Friday, May 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.43.

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.

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