Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys 14,500 Shares of Veeco Instruments Inc. $VECO

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) by 14.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 114,390 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,500 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Veeco Instruments were worth $3,873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VECO. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Veeco Instruments in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,342,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Veeco Instruments by 920.1% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 676,502 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $20,586,000 after purchasing an additional 610,187 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Veeco Instruments by 37.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,820,357 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $52,026,000 after purchasing an additional 495,767 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Veeco Instruments by 1,164.3% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 477,386 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,644,000 after purchasing an additional 439,628 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Arbitrage LLC purchased a new position in Veeco Instruments during the 4th quarter worth $11,648,000. Institutional investors own 98.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Veeco Instruments

In related news, Director Richard A. Damore sold 43,701 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 112,594 shares in the company, valued at $6,835,581.74. This trade represents a 27.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Susan Wilkerson sold 15,506 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.56, for a total transaction of $1,078,597.36. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 27,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,910,674.08. This trade represents a 36.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 339,055 shares of company stock valued at $20,705,270. Insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Veeco Instruments Trading Down 2.1%

NASDAQ VECO opened at $69.47 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 4.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $4.24 billion, a PE ratio of 182.82 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $61.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.59. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.29 and a 52 week high of $86.63.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VECO has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup upped their target price on Veeco Instruments from $40.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Veeco Instruments to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Zacks Research upgraded Veeco Instruments from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Veeco Instruments from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price 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. One 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Veeco Instruments currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.60.

About Veeco Instruments

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.