Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 162,627 Shares of Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lessened its stake in Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO - Free Report) by 42.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 220,624 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 162,627 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.45% of Onto Innovation worth $36,771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Onto Innovation during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in Onto Innovation by 209.4% in the fourth 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 last quarter. 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 buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Onto Innovation in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Onto Innovation during the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.35% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael P. Plisinski sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.24, for a total transaction of $6,337,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 185,492 shares of the company's stock, valued at $39,183,330.08. This trade represents a 13.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Srinivas Vedula sold 827 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $3,120,715. This trade represents a 5.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 85,827 shares of company stock valued at $18,182,185 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ONTO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $200.00 target price on shares of Onto Innovation and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Onto Innovation in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Onto Innovation from $245.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Onto Innovation from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Onto Innovation from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Onto Innovation presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $231.88.

Onto Innovation Trading Down 12.2 %

Shares of NYSE ONTO traded down $16.28 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $117.09. 347,318 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 772,535. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $146.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.50. Onto Innovation Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.21 and a 52-week high of $238.93. The company has a market capitalization of $5.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.46.

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 20.43% and a return on equity of 14.24%. On average, analysts forecast that Onto Innovation Inc. will post 6.26 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.