Natixis Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC has reduced its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 48.7%, selling 13,898 shares, bringing its total to 14,656 shares valued at $294,000 as of the end of the first quarter.
• Veeco Instruments reported earnings of $0.36 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.22, although revenue declined 5.6% year-over-year.
• Institutional investors now hold 98.46% of Veeco Instruments' stock, indicating strong institutional confidence in the semiconductor company.

Natixis Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 48.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,656 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 13,898 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC's holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings 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 last quarter. KBC Group NV raised 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 worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,584 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 342.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,807 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 6,817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 4th quarter valued at $220,000. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

NASDAQ VECO traded down $0.43 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $23.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 675,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 855,396. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.92 and a 1 year high of $38.56. The company has a quick ratio of 3.43, a current ratio of 5.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.35 and a beta of 1.12. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $21.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.07.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $166.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $151.31 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 11,010 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 89,254 shares in the company, valued at $1,829,707. This trade represents a 10.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Benchmark cut their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $27.33.

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.