Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 11.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,099 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 901 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $301,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Veeco Instruments by 130.6% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 46.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,088 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 666 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 237.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 14.8% during the third 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. 98.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of Veeco Instruments stock opened at $26.43 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 3.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $30.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.58 and a beta of 1.17. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.23 and a 52 week high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $184.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.57 million. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 10.92% and a net margin of 11.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Benchmark dropped their target price 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. Finally, Northland Securities reduced their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Four investment 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.14.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.67, for a total value of $71,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,297,671.14. This represents a 3.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,500 shares of company stock worth $225,850. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

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.