Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

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

Several other research analysts also recently commented on ONTO. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Onto Innovation in a report on Friday, February 7th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Onto Innovation from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Onto Innovation from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Onto Innovation in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Onto Innovation in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $246.88.

Onto Innovation Price Performance

Shares of ONTO opened at $145.43 on Thursday. Onto Innovation has a 1 year low of $145.15 and a 1 year high of $238.93. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $188.76. The firm has a market cap of $7.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.31.

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Onto Innovation had a net margin of 20.43% and a return on equity of 14.24%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Onto Innovation will post 6.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Onto Innovation

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Onto Innovation

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Onto Innovation by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its holdings in Onto Innovation by 7.8% in the third quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 1,050 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $218,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Onto Innovation by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 8,165 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,361,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Onto Innovation by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,533 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 26.3% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 423 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 88 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.