Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $904,000 Investment in Veeco Instruments Inc. $VECO

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new position in Veeco Instruments during the first quarter, buying 26,700 shares worth about $904,000.
• Institutional ownership in Veeco remains very high at 98.46%, while several other funds also boosted their stakes in the semiconductor equipment maker.
• Insiders have been selling shares recently, including director Richard A. Damore and SVP Adrian Devasahayam, even as analysts have mixed views and the stock currently carries an average Hold rating.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 26,700 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $904,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 29.6% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 134,088 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,692,000 after buying an additional 30,646 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 51.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 29,785 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $598,000 after acquiring an additional 10,122 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 4.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 33,043 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $664,000 after acquiring an additional 1,434 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 148.0% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 474,415 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $9,526,000 after acquiring an additional 283,099 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the first quarter worth $618,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Veeco Instruments news, Director Richard A. Damore sold 43,701 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.71, for a total transaction of $2,653,087.71. Following the sale, the director owned 112,594 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,835,581.74. This trade represents a 27.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Adrian Devasahayam sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $650,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 85,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,532,475. This represents a 10.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 339,055 shares of company stock valued at $20,705,270 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings raised Veeco Instruments from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $40.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.60.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Veeco Instruments stock opened at $57.49 on Monday. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.29 and a 1-year high of $86.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 4.23 and a quick ratio of 2.86. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 151.29 and a beta of 1.34. The stock's fifty day moving average is $62.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.55.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $158.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $160.07 million. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 3.49% and a net margin of 3.53%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. 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, sell-side analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veeco Instruments 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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