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

Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Friday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $265.00 to $245.00. The stock had previously closed at $198.33, but opened at $187.53. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Onto Innovation shares last traded at $183.82, with a volume of 169,442 shares changing hands.

ONTO has been the subject of several other research reports. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Onto Innovation from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Onto Innovation from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Onto Innovation in a research report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Onto Innovation from $245.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Onto Innovation has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $254.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Srinivas Vedula sold 1,275 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.24, for a total value of $264,231.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,326,202. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Onto Innovation

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Onto Innovation by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,254,287 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $951,446,000 after purchasing an additional 65,472 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 38.1% during the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,072,796 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $222,670,000 after acquiring an additional 295,869 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 28.5% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 856,780 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $188,115,000 after acquiring an additional 189,769 shares during the period. Hood River Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 672,230 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $121,727,000 after acquiring an additional 43,132 shares during the period. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 535,769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $117,633,000 after acquiring an additional 10,328 shares during the period. 98.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Onto Innovation Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $8.69 billion, a PE ratio of 52.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $202.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $206.56.

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The semiconductor company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.03. Onto Innovation had a net margin of 18.50% and a return on equity of 12.71%. The firm had revenue of $252.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $250.85 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.96 earnings per share. Onto Innovation’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Onto Innovation Inc. will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current 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.