First Eagle Investment Management LLC Raises Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 11.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 325,698 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 32,850 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned about 0.57% of Veeco Instruments worth $15,213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $320,000. Herald Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. Herald Investment Management Ltd now owns 140,000 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $6,537,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new position in Veeco Instruments in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,710,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 30,598 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,429,000 after buying an additional 3,337 shares during the period. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new position in Veeco Instruments in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,219,000. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.46, for a total transaction of $121,150.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 94,809 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,594,444.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on VECO. Citigroup downgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, July 15th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Northland Securities lowered their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $45.57.

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 4.8 %

Veeco Instruments stock traded up $1.46 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $31.96. The stock had a trading volume of 533,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 658,883. The stock has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a PE ratio of -70.91 and a beta of 1.17. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.63 and a 52 week high of $49.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 2.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.48.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $175.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.03 million. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 12.03% and a net margin of 11.83%. Veeco Instruments's revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.21 EPS. Analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.