Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Shares Down 13.7% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Veeco Instruments shares fell 13.7% to about $36.94 in mid-day trading, with volume roughly 51% below the average session volume.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: three analysts rate the stock a Buy and four rate it a Hold, producing an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $52.00.
• The company recently exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, but trades at a high P/E ratio of 102.58; its CEO and CFO also sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans.

Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) traded down 13.7% during mid-day trading on Friday. The company traded as low as $37.01 and last traded at $36.9350. Approximately 527,680 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average session volume of 1,084,487 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.80.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on VECO shares. Northland Securities upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $66.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Citigroup increased 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. Zacks Research downgraded Veeco Instruments from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of Veeco Instruments in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Veeco Instruments from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $52.00.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.58 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 3.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The business's 50 day moving average is $46.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.79.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $193.48 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.08 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.20 EPS. Veeco Instruments's revenue for the quarter was up 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. As a group, analysts anticipate that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO William Miller sold 200,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 169,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,187,302.60. This trade represents a 54.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO John Kiernan sold 35,000 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 68,802 shares in the company, valued at $3,512,342.10. This trade represents a 33.72% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VECO. Tema ETFs LLC purchased a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the 2nd quarter worth about $49,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Veeco Instruments in the 2nd quarter worth about $69,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in Veeco Instruments in the 2nd quarter worth about $146,000. 98.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Veeco Instruments Company Profile

Veeco Instruments Inc NASDAQ: VECO develops and manufactures specialized equipment used in the production of semiconductors and other advanced electronic devices. Its systems help customers deposit, etch, pattern, anneal and otherwise process thin films and materials at the wafer level.

The company's product portfolio includes metal-organic chemical vapor deposition systems, molecular beam epitaxy equipment, ion beam etch and deposition systems, laser annealing systems, and related process-control and automation technologies.

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