Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Director Gordon Hunter Sells 16,974 Shares

Key Points

• Director Gordon Hunter sold 16,974 Veeco shares on June 9 at an average price of $68.80, for proceeds of about $1.17 million. After the sale, he retained 11,236 shares, a 60.17% reduction in his position.
• Hunter has also been actively selling Veeco stock in recent weeks, including multiple transactions in May and early June. Those sales ranged from about 6,752 to 29,532 shares each.
• Veeco shares traded at $66.00, near the stock’s 52-week high of $73.03. The company recently reported earnings that missed analyst expectations, although several analysts still issued upgrades or higher price targets.

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO - Get Free Report) Director Gordon Hunter sold 16,974 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.80, for a total value of $1,167,811.20. Following the sale, the director owned 11,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $773,036.80. This trade represents a 60.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Gordon Hunter also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, June 4th, Gordon Hunter sold 6,752 shares of Veeco Instruments stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.78, for a total value of $430,642.56.
• On Tuesday, May 26th, Gordon Hunter sold 17,714 shares of Veeco Instruments stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.61, for a total value of $1,091,359.54.
• On Tuesday, May 12th, Gordon Hunter sold 29,532 shares of Veeco Instruments stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total value of $1,754,496.12.
• On Friday, May 8th, Gordon Hunter sold 7,746 shares of Veeco Instruments stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.76, for a total transaction of $455,154.96.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VECO traded down $1.19 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $66.00. 3,442,623 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,205,164. 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 company's 50 day moving average is $51.02 and its 200 day moving average is $38.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 173.69 and a beta of 1.39. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a one year low of $19.29 and a one year high of $73.03.

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

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VECO. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 29.6% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 134,088 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,692,000 after acquiring an additional 30,646 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 51.5% in the 1st 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 during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 4.5% in the 1st 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 during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Veeco Instruments by 148.0% in the 1st 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 bought a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the 1st quarter worth approximately $618,000. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on VECO shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Veeco Instruments to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Zacks Research upgraded Veeco Instruments from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Citigroup increased their target price on Veeco Instruments from $40.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Veeco Instruments from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average 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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