Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

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

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $30.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Zacks Research raised shares of Veeco Instruments from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Veeco Instruments from $40.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Veeco Instruments from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.60.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

Shares of VECO opened at $58.45 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 153.82 and a beta of 1.39. Veeco Instruments has a twelve month low of $19.29 and a twelve month high of $65.43. The company has a 50 day moving average of $49.88 and a 200-day moving average of $37.57. The company has a quick ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $158.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.07 million. Veeco Instruments had a return on equity of 3.49% and a net margin of 3.53%.Veeco Instruments’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.37 earnings per share. 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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Veeco Instruments will post 1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Veeco Instruments news, Director Richard A. Damore sold 43,701 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.71, for a total transaction of $2,653,087.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 112,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,835,581.74. The trade was a 27.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gordon Hunter sold 29,532 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,754,496.12. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 52,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,129,481.16. This trade represents a 35.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 289,823 shares of company stock valued at $17,378,219. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veeco Instruments

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Veeco Instruments by 7.4% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,111 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in Veeco Instruments by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 32,882 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $939,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its position in Veeco Instruments by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 7,503 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 10,986 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Veeco Instruments by 9.9% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,421 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 580 shares in 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.