Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Buys Shares of 47,192 Veeco Instruments Inc. $VECO

Key Points

• Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought 47,192 Veeco Instruments shares worth approximately $3.58 million, while institutional investors collectively own 98.46% of the company.
• Analysts remain cautious: Veeco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.33, despite Citigroup issuing a “Buy” rating and raising its target to $63.
• Veeco exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.33 EPS versus a $0.26 estimate and $193.48 million in revenue, up 16.5% year over year. However, insiders have sold 277,480 shares worth roughly $15.5 million over the past 90 days.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 47,192 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $3,577,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned about 0.08% of Veeco Instruments at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Tema ETFs LLC purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 2nd quarter valued at about $69,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 75.6% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,366 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 1,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 1,370 shares in the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO William Miller sold 200,000 shares of the company's 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 $9,187,302.60. The trade was a 54.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Susan Wilkerson sold 15,506 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.56, for a total value of $1,078,597.36. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 27,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,910,674.08. This represents a 36.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 277,480 shares of company stock worth $15,519,159 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of Veeco Instruments stock opened at $42.55 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.93, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 118.19 and a beta of 1.37. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.31 and a 1-year high of $86.63.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $180.08 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.20 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue 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, sell-side analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current year.

About Veeco Instruments

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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