StockNews.com Downgrades Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) to Sell

StockNews.com cut shares of Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on ONTO. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Onto Innovation in a research note on Friday, February 7th. 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 report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $275.00 price objective on shares of Onto Innovation in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Onto Innovation in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Onto Innovation has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $251.25.

Onto Innovation Stock Down 3.9 %

Shares of Onto Innovation stock opened at $176.15 on Tuesday. Onto Innovation has a twelve month low of $145.15 and a twelve month high of $238.93. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $186.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $189.99. The firm has a market cap of $8.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.39, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.31.

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) last issued 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 14.41% and a net margin of 20.43%. On average, equities analysts expect that Onto Innovation will post 6.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Michael P. Plisinski sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 directly owns 150,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,986,341.48. This trade represents a 18.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Srinivas Vedula sold 827 shares of Onto Innovation 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,120,715. This trade represents a 5.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 85,827 shares of company stock valued at $18,182,185 in the last ninety days. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Onto Innovation

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Onto Innovation in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in Onto Innovation by 209.4% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 164 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Onto Innovation by 532.4% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 234 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Onto Innovation in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Onto Innovation during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. 98.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.