Benchmark Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO)

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by analysts at Benchmark in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $230.00 target price on the semiconductor company’s stock. Benchmark’s price target suggests a potential upside of 22.89% from the company’s current price.

ONTO has been the subject of a number of other reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Onto Innovation from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $275.00 target price on shares of Onto Innovation in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Onto Innovation from $265.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Onto Innovation in a research note on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Onto Innovation in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $251.25.

Onto Innovation Trading Down 11.1 %

Onto Innovation stock traded down $23.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $187.16. The stock had a trading volume of 1,534,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 925,343. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $185.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $190.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.24 billion, a PE ratio of 50.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.31. Onto Innovation has a 12 month low of $145.15 and a 12 month high of $238.93.

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Onto Innovation had a return on equity of 13.38% and a net margin of 19.44%. Sell-side analysts expect that Onto Innovation will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Onto Innovation

In related news, CEO Michael P. Plisinski sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.24, for a total transaction of $6,337,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 185,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,183,330.08. This represents a 13.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,120,715. The trade was a 5.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 85,827 shares of company stock valued at $18,182,185 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Onto Innovation by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,782 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,630,000 after acquiring an additional 2,466 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in Onto Innovation by 28.1% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,963 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $494,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Onto Innovation by 42.1% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,342 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 1,878 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in Onto Innovation in the fourth quarter valued at $4,330,000. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Onto Innovation by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 1,010,691 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $168,452,000 after acquiring an additional 71,050 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.35% of the company’s stock.

About Onto Innovation

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.