Econ Financial Services Corp Takes Position in Veeco Instruments Inc. $VECO

Key Points

• Econ Financial Services Corp opened a new position in Veeco Instruments, buying 26,413 shares valued at about $894,000 in the first quarter.
• Veeco reported weaker-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.14 versus the $0.20 estimate and revenue of $158.34 million, down 5.4% year over year.
• Insider selling has been notable, including large sales by Director Gordon Hunter and CEO William John Miller, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with a target price of $40.60.

Econ Financial Services Corp purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 26,413 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $894,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Veeco Instruments by 75.6% in the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,366 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Veeco Instruments by 125.6% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,461 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,370 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the third quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 16,961.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 3,583 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 3,562 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 6.0%

VECO stock opened at $70.95 on Friday. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.29 and a 52 week high of $86.63. The company has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 186.72 and a beta of 1.39. The firm's 50-day moving average is $60.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.26. The company has a current ratio of 4.23, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.06). Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 3.53% and a return on equity of 3.49%. The company had revenue of $158.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.37 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Veeco Instruments has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.200-0.320 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 1.500-1.850 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Veeco Instruments

In related news, Director Gordon Hunter sold 16,974 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 11,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at $773,036.80. The trade was a 60.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO William John Miller sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.62, for a total transaction of $2,931,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 369,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,664,193.40. This trade represents a 11.92% 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. Insiders sold a total of 339,055 shares of company stock valued at $20,705,270 over the last three months. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on VECO shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $40.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays raised their target price on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen raised Veeco Instruments to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered Veeco Instruments from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Veeco Instruments from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $40.60.

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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