Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 4.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 341,069 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 13,182 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.59% of Veeco Instruments worth $6,849,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of VECO. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter valued at $14,373,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,748,172 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $73,651,000 after acquiring an additional 531,821 shares during the period. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 278.2% in the 4th quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC now owns 432,769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $11,598,000 after purchasing an additional 318,345 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 125.2% in the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 349,785 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,374,000 after purchasing an additional 194,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 3,668.8% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 199,067 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,335,000 after purchasing an additional 193,785 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 0.9%

NASDAQ:VECO opened at $20.75 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 3.02 and a current ratio of 4.44. The company has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39 and a beta of 1.10. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.92 and a 52-week high of $47.49. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.85.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.05. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 8.29% and a net margin of 8.99%. The company had revenue of $167.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $166.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In related news, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 11,010 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total transaction 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on VECO shares. Barclays lowered their target price on Veeco Instruments from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Veeco Instruments from $27.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.43.

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.