27,430 Shares in Veeco Instruments Inc. $VECO Bought by Equitable Holdings Inc.

Key Points

• Equitable Holdings purchased 27,430 Veeco Instruments shares worth approximately $2.08 million, while institutional investors collectively own 98.46% of the company.
• Veeco exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.33 earnings per share versus the $0.26 consensus and revenue of $193.48 million, up 16.5% year over year.
• Insiders sold 334,232 shares worth about $18.9 million over the past quarter. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $49.33.

Equitable Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 27,430 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $2,079,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the 1st quarter worth approximately $904,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 37.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,820,357 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $52,026,000 after buying an additional 495,767 shares during the period. Nano Cap New Millennium Growth Fund L P acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,572,000. New York Life Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Veeco Instruments during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,808,000. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its stake in Veeco Instruments by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 292,360 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $8,356,000 after buying an additional 28,967 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO William John Miller sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.18, for a total transaction of $10,836,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 169,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,187,302.60. This represents a 54.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Gordon Hunter sold 16,974 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.80, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 60.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 334,232 shares of company stock worth $18,880,801 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of VECO stock opened at $44.29 on Friday. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.31 and a 12 month 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 123.03 and a beta of 1.38. The company's fifty day moving average price is $55.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.13.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.07. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 3.40% and a return on equity of 3.52%. The company had revenue of $193.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $180.08 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.20 EPS. 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. On average, research analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on VECO shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Veeco Instruments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Barclays upped their target price on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Veeco Instruments from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $49.33.

Veeco Instruments Company Profile

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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