Man Group plc Grows Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Man Group plc increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 351.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,504 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 41,663 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned about 0.09% of Veeco Instruments worth $1,434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of VECO. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 257.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 919 shares in the last quarter. Sciencast Management LP purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the 4th quarter worth about $204,000. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the 4th quarter worth about $220,000. Inceptionr LLC purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the 4th quarter worth about $263,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 54.9% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 10,009 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 3,548 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $35.00 price target (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Benchmark cut their price target on Veeco Instruments from $38.00 to $31.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup cut their price target on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.43.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of VECO traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $19.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 136,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 742,970. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.92 and a 12-month high of $49.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of 15.98 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.98 and a quick ratio of 2.69. The company's 50 day moving average is $19.45 and its 200 day moving average is $23.53.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $167.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $166.00 million. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 9.38% and a net margin of 10.28%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Veeco Instruments

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.