Penn Capital Management Company LLC Buys New Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. $VECO

Penn Capital Management Company LLC purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 29,877 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $909,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 29.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 134,088 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,692,000 after purchasing an additional 30,646 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 51.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 29,785 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $598,000 after purchasing an additional 10,122 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 4.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 33,043 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $664,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 148.0% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 474,415 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,526,000 after purchasing an additional 283,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the 1st quarter valued at $618,000. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on VECO shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.17.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

NASDAQ VECO opened at $31.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.54 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 4.75, a quick ratio of 3.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $31.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.95. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.92 and a 1 year high of $35.77.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO William John Miller sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total value of $1,581,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 414,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,107,849.66. This trade represents a 10.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

About Veeco Instruments

Veeco Instruments Inc (NASDAQ: VECO) is a leading supplier of process equipment for the semiconductor, data storage, wireless communications, power electronics and advanced packaging industries. The company designs, manufactures and services precision tools used to grow, deposit and etch thin films on substrates, enabling the fabrication of chips, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and high-density storage devices. Veeco’s platforms are deployed across fabrication facilities worldwide, where they support key processes in materials science and device manufacturing.

Veeco’s product portfolio spans molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), ion beam etch and deposition, and high-precision wet and dry etch systems.