Amundi Grows Stock Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. $VECO

Key Points

• Institutional ownership increased sharply: Amundi raised its Veeco Instruments position by 235.4% in the second quarter, while BlackRock and California State Teachers Retirement System also established or expanded holdings. Institutional investors now own 98.46% of the stock.
• Veeco beat quarterly expectations: The company reported earnings of $0.33 per share versus the $0.26 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $193.48 million, up 16.5% year over year and above forecasts.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: Veeco has a consensus “Hold” rating and a $49.33 price target, despite Citigroup raising its target to $63.00. Meanwhile, the CEO and CFO sold shares through pre-arranged trading plans.

Amundi raised its position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) by 235.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 109,303 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 76,710 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned about 0.18% of Veeco Instruments worth $8,285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the second quarter worth about $728,127,000. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 7,039.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,396,804 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $69,023,000 after buying an additional 157,978 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,215,031 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $65,329,000 after buying an additional 284,716 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Veeco Instruments by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,481,803 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $75,521,000 after buying an additional 26,248 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Veeco Instruments Trading Up 2.1%

Veeco Instruments stock opened at $44.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 124.53 and a beta of 1.37. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.28 and a fifty-two week high of $86.63. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $49.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.00. 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 (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $193.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $180.08 million. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 3.52% and a net margin of 3.40%.The firm's revenue was up 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.20 earnings per share. 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Veeco Instruments Profile

Veeco Instruments Inc develops and manufactures specialized equipment used in the production of semiconductors and other advanced electronic components. Its systems support processes such as thin-film deposition, etching, lithography-related applications, and thermal processing, helping manufacturers create and refine microscopic structures on wafers and other materials.

The company's product portfolio includes metal-organic chemical vapor deposition systems for compound semiconductors, ion beam etch and deposition equipment, laser annealing systems, and other wafer-processing technologies.

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