Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Onto Innovation from $265.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Onto Innovation from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Onto Innovation in a report on Friday, February 7th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Onto Innovation in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Onto Innovation from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Onto Innovation currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $246.88.

Onto Innovation Price Performance

Shares of ONTO stock opened at $145.60 on Thursday. Onto Innovation has a 1-year low of $141.50 and a 1-year high of $238.93. The company has a market cap of $7.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.86, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.35.

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Onto Innovation had a net margin of 20.43% and a return on equity of 14.24%. Analysts anticipate that Onto Innovation will post 6.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Srinivas Vedula sold 827 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $169,535.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,120,715. This represents a 5.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael P. Plisinski sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.19, for a total transaction of $7,671,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 150,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,986,341.48. This trade represents a 18.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 85,827 shares of company stock worth $18,182,185. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,166,137 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $861,040,000 after acquiring an additional 76,233 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Onto Innovation by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,192,238 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $365,380,000 after purchasing an additional 183,839 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Onto Innovation by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,553,271 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $258,883,000 after buying an additional 271,470 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Onto Innovation by 41.6% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,515,152 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $252,530,000 after buying an additional 444,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in Onto Innovation by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,469,969 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $305,107,000 after acquiring an additional 39,367 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.35% of the company’s stock.

Onto Innovation Company Profile

Onto Innovation Inc engages in the design, development, manufacture, and support of process control tools that performs optical metrology. The company offers lithography systems and process control analytical software. It also offers process and yield management solutions, and device packaging and test facilities through standalone systems for optical metrology, macro-defect inspection, packaging lithography, and transparent and opaque thin film measurements.