American Century Companies Inc. Raises Stock Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. $VECO

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. by 70.2%, owning 37,390 shares valued at $751,000 after acquiring an additional 15,427 shares.
• Veeco Instruments' quarterly earnings exceeded expectations with an EPS of $0.36, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22, despite a 5.6% decline in revenue compared to the previous year.
• Research analysts have adjusted their ratings for Veeco Instruments, with Goldman Sachs lowering its target price to $20.00 while Needham raised it to $30.00, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 70.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 37,390 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,427 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Veeco Instruments worth $751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 9,391 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 33.6% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,366 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 847 shares during the period. Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 1.1% in the first quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 92,709 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,862,000 after purchasing an additional 987 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,034 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 31,609 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $847,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the period. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 2.6%

Veeco Instruments stock traded up $0.63 during trading on Friday, reaching $24.51. The stock had a trading volume of 441,980 shares, compared to its average volume of 890,932. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.92 and a 52-week high of $34.34. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $22.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.02. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.47 billion, a PE ratio of 24.03 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VECO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Benchmark lowered their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.33.

Veeco Instruments 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.