Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Trading Down 6.2% Following Insider Selling

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO)’s share price dropped 6.2% during trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $47.00 and last traded at $47.7650. Approximately 193,267 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 1,219,046 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.91.

Specifically, CEO William John Miller sold 200,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 169,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,187,302.60. This represents a 54.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on VECO shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. 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 stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Veeco Instruments from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.33.

Veeco Instruments Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.11 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 3.93 and a quick ratio of 2.69.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.08 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.20 earnings per share. The business’s 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, analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VECO. Tema ETFs LLC bought a new position in shares of Veeco Instruments in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the second quarter worth $39,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Veeco Instruments during the second quarter worth $69,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised 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 buying an additional 1,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised 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 valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 1,370 shares during the last quarter. 98.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.