Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO) gapped down prior to trading on Friday after Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on the stock from $270.00 to $250.00. The stock had previously closed at $210.59, but opened at $197.75. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Onto Innovation shares last traded at $186.58, with a volume of 507,969 shares.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Onto Innovation from $265.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Onto Innovation in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Onto Innovation in a report on Monday, January 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $275.00 target price on shares of Onto Innovation in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Onto Innovation in a report 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 MarketBeat.com, Onto Innovation currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $251.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Onto Innovation

In related news, SVP Srinivas Vedula sold 827 shares of the firm’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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,223 shares in the company, valued at $3,120,715. This trade represents a 5.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael P. Plisinski sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.19, for a total value of $4,003,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 215,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,139,343.48. This represents a 8.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 85,827 shares of company stock worth $18,182,185 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Onto Innovation

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Onto Innovation by 12.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,008,399 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $416,863,000 after acquiring an additional 228,800 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 2.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,469,969 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $305,107,000 after buying an additional 39,367 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 4.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,281,801 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $288,320,000 after buying an additional 54,868 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 38.1% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,072,796 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $222,670,000 after buying an additional 295,869 shares during the period. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 71,050 shares during the period. 98.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Onto Innovation Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $9.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $185.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $190.38.

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

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.