Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC Cuts Stock Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 94.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 19,750 shares during the period. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $36,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 130.6% during the third 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. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,180 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,088 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 14.8% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of VECO stock opened at $27.87 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.58 billion, a PE ratio of 20.64 and a beta of 1.17. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $29.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.48. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.52 and a 12 month high of $49.25.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $184.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.57 million. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 10.92%. Veeco Instruments’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. Analysts predict that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Veeco Instruments from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Benchmark lowered their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Northland Securities reduced their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.14.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.04, for a total value of $72,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 85,142 shares in the company, valued at $2,472,523.68. This trade represents a 2.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 7,500 shares of company stock worth $225,850 over the last ninety days. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.