Short Interest in Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO) Declines By 20.5%

Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,200,000 shares, a drop of 20.5% from the February 28th total of 1,510,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 964,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.2 days. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on ONTO. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Onto Innovation from $245.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $200.00 price target on Onto Innovation and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Onto Innovation from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Onto Innovation in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Onto Innovation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.88.

Onto Innovation Price Performance

NYSE ONTO traded up $2.62 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $125.69. 553,871 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 740,263. The stock has a market cap of $6.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.29. Onto Innovation has a one year low of $116.07 and a one year high of $238.93. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.66.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Onto Innovation had a return on equity of 14.24% and a net margin of 20.43%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Onto Innovation will post 6.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Onto Innovation

In other Onto Innovation news, CEO Michael P. Plisinski sold 20,000 shares of Onto Innovation stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.19, for a total value of $4,003,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 215,492 shares in the company, valued at $43,139,343.48. The trade was a 8.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Srinivas Vedula sold 827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $169,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,120,715. The trade was a 5.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 85,827 shares of company stock valued at $18,182,185 over the last three months. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Onto Innovation

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Onto Innovation during the 4th quarter worth approximately $87,987,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 41.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 444,860 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Onto Innovation by 72.2% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 870,250 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $145,045,000 after purchasing an additional 364,853 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Onto Innovation by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,406,034 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $234,344,000 after purchasing an additional 356,161 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,553,271 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $258,883,000 after purchasing an additional 271,470 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.