MQS Management LLC Acquires Shares of 8,797 Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 8,797 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 7.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,690,121 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $188,059,000 after acquiring an additional 450,685 shares during the last quarter. Blue Grotto Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,476,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,705,572 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $52,924,000 after acquiring an additional 135,687 shares in the last quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,599,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 132.1% during the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 195,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,858,000 after acquiring an additional 111,000 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

VECO traded up $0.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $39.44. 113,127 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 588,801. The company’s 50-day moving average is $44.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.85. The company has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -87.44 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.02, a current ratio of 3.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.63 and a 12-month high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $174.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.00 million. Veeco Instruments had a positive return on equity of 11.97% and a negative net margin of 2.51%. Research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup cut Veeco Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays upped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veeco Instruments news, Director Dennis Thomas St sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.72, for a total value of $150,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 51,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,956,196.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Dennis Thomas St sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.72, for a total transaction of $150,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 51,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,956,196.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.39, for a total value of $108,475.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 2,167 shares in the company, valued at $94,026.13. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,000 shares of company stock worth $1,526,205 in the last ninety days. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.