Veeco Instruments Inc. $VECO Shares Bought by Granahan Investment Management LLC

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

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised 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 buying an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Veeco Instruments by 213.9% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,139 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 2,139 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Veeco Instruments by 33.6% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,366 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 847 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in Veeco Instruments by 75.9% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,672 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,584 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VECO shares. Benchmark cut their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.33.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VECO traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $24.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 233,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 755,195. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.92 and a 1-year high of $34.34. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $22.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.02. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.36 and a beta of 1.23.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $166.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $151.31 million. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 8.65% and a return on equity of 7.38%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, CEO William John Miller sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $625,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 470,671 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,766,775. The trade was a 5.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

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.