Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts broadly rate Veeco Instruments “Hold”: Five of six brokerages recommend holding the stock, while one rates it a buy. The average 12-month price target is $49.33.
• Recent operating results exceeded expectations: Veeco reported quarterly EPS of $0.33 versus the $0.26 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 16.5% year over year to $193.48 million.
• Ownership and insider activity were notable: Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company, with major new positions from BlackRock and other funds, while insiders sold 334,232 shares worth approximately $18.9 million during the last quarter.

Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $49.3333.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Veeco Instruments from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In other Veeco Instruments news, Director Gordon Hunter sold 16,974 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.80, for a total transaction of $1,167,811.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $773,036.80. The trade was a 60.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Susan Wilkerson sold 15,506 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.56, for a total value of $1,078,597.36. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 27,468 shares in the company, valued at $1,910,674.08. This trade represents a 36.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 334,232 shares of company stock worth $18,880,801. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VECO. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments during the second quarter worth about $728,127,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 7,039.2% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,267,948 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $399,310,000 after buying an additional 5,194,159 shares during the period. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $156,557,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $134,434,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,342,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

NASDAQ VECO opened at $44.29 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a PE ratio of 123.03 and a beta of 1.38. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $55.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.26. Veeco Instruments has a 1-year low of $23.31 and a 1-year high of $86.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 3.93 and a quick ratio of 2.69.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.07. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 3.52% and a net margin of 3.40%.The firm had revenue of $193.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $180.08 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.20 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. Veeco Instruments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.360-1.610 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.350-0.490 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments will post 0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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