Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Stock Now Rated "Hold" by Sell-Side Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst consensus is “Hold”: Four of seven brokerages rate Veeco Instruments a hold, while three recommend buying it. The average 12-month price target is $52.00.
• Recent insider sales were significant: The CFO sold 35,000 shares and the CEO sold 200,000 shares under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, reducing their direct holdings by roughly 34% and 54%, respectively.
• Quarterly results exceeded expectations: Veeco reported adjusted earnings of $0.33 per share versus the $0.26 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 16.5% year over year to $193.48 million.

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Hold" by the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $52.00.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on VECO shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 12th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Zacks Research cut shares of Veeco Instruments from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Northland Securities upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $66.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, September 21st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO John P. Kiernan sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.05, for a total transaction of $1,786,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 68,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,512,342.10. This represents a 33.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO William Miller sold 200,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.18, for a total value of $10,836,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 169,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,187,302.60. This represents a 54.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments in the first quarter valued at $904,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 210.9% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 73,163 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,477,000 after purchasing an additional 49,631 shares during the last quarter. Rokos Capital Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments during the first quarter worth about $3,228,000. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 235.4% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 109,303 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $8,285,000 after purchasing an additional 76,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 3.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,374,292 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $80,391,000 after purchasing an additional 68,780 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Veeco Instruments Stock Up 2.1%

VECO stock opened at $43.65 on Tuesday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $47.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 3.93. Veeco Instruments has a fifty-two week low of $26.00 and a fifty-two week high of $86.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 121.25 and a beta of 1.36.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.07. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 3.40% and a return on equity of 3.52%. The firm had revenue of $193.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $180.08 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.20 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments will post 0.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veeco Instruments Company Profile

Veeco Instruments Inc NASDAQ: VECO develops and manufactures process equipment used to produce semiconductors, compound semiconductors, data-storage devices and other advanced electronic materials. Its systems are designed to support critical steps in manufacturing, including deposition, etching, annealing and lithography-related processes.

The company's product portfolio includes metal-organic chemical vapor deposition systems, molecular beam epitaxy systems, ion beam etch and deposition equipment, laser annealing systems, and other specialized process tools.

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