Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Veeco Instruments from $40.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays upped their target price on Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Veeco Instruments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.33.

Veeco Instruments Stock Down 0.0%

VECO opened at $52.78 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of 146.61 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $61.13 and a 200-day moving average of $47.39. Veeco Instruments has a fifty-two week low of $22.32 and a fifty-two week high of $86.63. 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 posted its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $193.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.08 million. Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 3.40% and a return on equity of 3.52%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments will post 1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Richard A. Damore sold 43,701 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.71, for a total value of $2,653,087.71. Following the sale, the director owned 112,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,835,581.74. This trade represents a 27.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO William John Miller sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.62, for a total transaction of $2,931,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 369,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,664,193.40. This trade represents a 11.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 231,309 shares of company stock valued at $14,295,115 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Veeco Instruments by 29.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 134,088 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,692,000 after purchasing an additional 30,646 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 51.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 29,785 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $598,000 after buying an additional 10,122 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 33,043 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $664,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Veeco Instruments by 148.0% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 474,415 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $9,526,000 after purchasing an additional 283,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments in the first quarter valued at $618,000. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

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.