Chesapeake Capital Corp IL Reduces Stock Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Chesapeake Capital Corp IL lowered its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 41.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,064 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 4,964 shares during the period. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $237,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 130.6% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 46.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,088 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 237.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,677 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 1,180 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 733.3% in the second 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 lifted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 14.8% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,864 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 498 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VECO opened at $26.43 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58 and a beta of 1.17. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.23 and a 12 month high of $49.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $30.61 and its 200 day moving average is $37.21. The company has a current ratio of 3.54, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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

Insider Activity at Veeco Instruments

In related news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.67, for a total transaction of $71,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 80,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,297,671.14. This represents a 3.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 7,500 shares of company stock valued at $225,850 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VECO. StockNews.com raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Northland Securities lowered their target price 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 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. Four equities 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.14.

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.