First Eagle Investment Management LLC Has $15.21 Million Stock Holdings in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 11.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 325,698 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,850 shares during the quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.57% of Veeco Instruments worth $15,213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crestline Management LP grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 155.7% during the 4th quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 109,286 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,391,000 after buying an additional 66,544 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 280.7% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 38,949 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,370,000 after acquiring an additional 28,719 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the 4th quarter worth $565,000. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 1st quarter valued at $713,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 598,014 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,933,000 after purchasing an additional 31,482 shares during the period. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of VECO opened at $30.50 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.54. 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 quick ratio of 2.32 and a current ratio of 3.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of -67.78 and a beta of 1.17.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.46, for a total value of $121,150.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 94,809 shares in the company, valued at $4,594,444.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on VECO. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Northland Securities reduced their price objective 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, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.57.

About Veeco Instruments

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.