Granahan Investment Management LLC Grows Stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. $VECO

Key Points

• Granahan Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 19.9% in the first quarter, now holding approximately 0.50% of the company valued at $5.87 million.
• Veeco Instruments reported a quarterly EPS of $0.36, beating estimates of $0.22, though its revenue declined by 5.6% compared to the previous year.
• Research analysts have mixed views on Veeco, with target prices ranging from $20.00 to $30.00 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

Granahan Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 19.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 292,165 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 48,496 shares during the quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC owned about 0.50% of Veeco Instruments worth $5,867,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 396.2% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 213.9% during the 1st 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. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 33.6% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 75.9% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 2.6%

Veeco Instruments stock traded up $0.63 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $24.51. The stock had a trading volume of 441,980 shares, compared to its average volume of 845,275. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.92 and a twelve month high of $34.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a PE ratio of 24.03 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 3.43 and a current ratio of 5.10. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $22.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.99.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.14. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 7.38% and a net margin of 8.65%.The company had revenue of $166.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $151.31 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on VECO. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Benchmark decreased their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.