Driehaus Capital Management LLC Purchases 793,429 Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Driehaus Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 119.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,458,288 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 793,429 shares during the quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC owned about 2.57% of Veeco Instruments worth $68,117,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VECO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 5.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,131,073 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $250,800,000 after purchasing an additional 391,346 shares during the last quarter. Blue Grotto Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter worth about $11,476,000. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the second quarter worth about $8,857,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in 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 worth $52,924,000 after buying an additional 135,687 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in 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 worth $6,858,000 after buying an additional 111,000 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VECO traded down $0.33 during trading on Friday, reaching $33.53. The stock had a trading volume of 746,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 663,474. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.63 and a 52 week high of $49.25. The business's 50-day moving average price is $35.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.30. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a PE ratio of -74.51 and a beta of 1.17.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last posted its 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). Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 12.03%. The firm had revenue of $175.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.03 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.21 EPS. The business's revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Veeco Instruments news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.04, for a total transaction of $72,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 85,142 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,472,523.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VECO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup downgraded Veeco Instruments from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, July 15th. Northland Securities decreased their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $45.57.

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.