Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $10.33 Million Stock Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 311,886 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,583 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.55% of Veeco Instruments worth $10,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Veeco Instruments by 130.6% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 752 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Veeco Instruments by 237.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its position in Veeco Instruments by 733.3% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Veeco Instruments by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the period. Finally, Ausbil Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the 2nd quarter worth about $200,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 3.2 %

VECO opened at $26.43 on Monday. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.23 and a fifty-two week high of $49.25. The business has a 50-day moving average of $30.61 and a 200-day moving average of $37.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 3.54 and a quick ratio of 2.41. The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a PE ratio of 19.58 and a beta of 1.17.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.01. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 10.92% and a net margin of 11.34%. The business had revenue of $184.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.57 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total value of $81,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,696,608.46. This trade represents a 2.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,500 shares of company stock valued at $225,850. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on VECO shares. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Benchmark decreased their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Northland Securities decreased their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com raised Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.14.

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.