Insider Selling: Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) Director Sells $1,754,496.12 in Stock

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:VECO) Director Gordon Hunter sold 29,532 shares of Veeco Instruments stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.41, for a total transaction of $1,754,496.12. Following the sale, the director owned 52,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,129,481.16. The trade was a 35.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

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

• On Friday, May 8th, Gordon Hunter sold 7,746 shares of Veeco Instruments stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.76, for a total transaction of $455,154.96.

Veeco Instruments Price Performance

VECO stock opened at $58.64 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $41.73 and a 200-day moving average of $34.49. Veeco Instruments Inc. has a 12-month low of $18.85 and a 12-month high of $65.43. The company has a current ratio of 4.23, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 154.32 and a beta of 1.36.

Veeco Instruments (NASDAQ:VECO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.06). Veeco Instruments had a net margin of 3.53% and a return on equity of 3.49%. The company had revenue of $158.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.37 earnings per share. Veeco Instruments’s 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, equities analysts expect that Veeco Instruments Inc. will post 1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Veeco Instruments

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 75.6% during 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 period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 125.6% during 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 period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 4th quarter valued at $77,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Veeco Instruments during the 3rd quarter valued at $91,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Veeco Instruments by 16,961.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 3,583 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 3,562 shares during the period. 98.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VECO has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded Veeco Instruments from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Veeco Instruments from $40.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Veeco Instruments in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Veeco Instruments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Veeco Instruments has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.00.

Key Veeco Instruments News

Here are the key news stories impacting Veeco Instruments this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Northland Securities raised its FY2026 EPS estimate for Veeco Instruments to $1.10 from $1.04, suggesting slightly stronger near-term earnings than previously expected.
• Positive Sentiment: The firm also boosted multiple forward estimates, including FY2027 EPS to $2.69 from $1.17, which points to a much stronger long-term earnings outlook for Veeco Instruments (VECO).
• Positive Sentiment: Northland increased quarterly estimates across 2026 and 2027, reinforcing the view that earnings momentum for the semiconductor equipment maker is improving.
• Neutral Sentiment: Another report said Veeco’s price target was increased by 43.08% to $47.43, adding to the more constructive analyst tone around the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Director Gordon Hunter sold 29,532 shares worth about $1.75 million, and he also sold shares earlier in the week. Insider selling can sometimes weigh on investor sentiment, even if it does not necessarily change the company’s fundamentals.

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.