Janus Henderson Group PLC Trims Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)

Janus Henderson Group PLC cut its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 73.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,159 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 59,992 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC's holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $734,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VECO. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 39.4% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,602 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 2,433 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 28,500 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,331,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,145,000. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. grew its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 67,588 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $3,156,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shaker Investments LLC OH bought a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the 2nd quarter worth $2,086,000. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

NASDAQ VECO traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $27.68. 556,256 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 563,011. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.52 and a 52 week high of $49.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.50 and a beta of 1.15. The business's fifty day moving average price is $29.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.60.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 11.34% and a return on equity of 10.92%. The business had revenue of $184.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 80,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,297,671.14. This represents a 3.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VECO shares. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Benchmark reduced their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.14.

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.