Public Sector Pension Investment Board Acquires 42,258 Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. $VECO

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. by 29.9% during the first quarter, holding 183,710 shares valued at approximately $3.69 million.
• Veeco Instruments reported quarterly earnings of $0.36 per share, surpassing analyst expectations of $0.22, with revenues totaling $166.10 million despite a 5.6% year-over-year decline.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on the stock, with target prices ranging from $20.00 to $30.00, and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 29.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 183,710 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 42,258 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned about 0.32% of Veeco Instruments worth $3,689,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Veeco Instruments by 213.9% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,139 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 2,139 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Veeco Instruments by 33.6% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,366 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 847 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Veeco Instruments by 75.9% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,672 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 1,584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the 4th quarter worth approximately $220,000. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 5.2%

Veeco Instruments stock traded up $1.25 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $25.25. The company had a trading volume of 781,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 897,977. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 5.10 and a quick ratio of 3.43. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.92 and a 12-month high of $38.56. The firm has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.76 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $21.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.03.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $166.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $151.31 million. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 7.38% and a net margin of 8.65%.The business's revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veeco Instruments news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 11,010 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total value of $225,705.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 89,254 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,829,707. The trade was a 10.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on VECO shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Veeco Instruments from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays dropped their target price on Veeco Instruments from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Veeco Instruments from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Benchmark dropped their target price on Veeco Instruments from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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.