Argent Capital Management LLC Invests $437,000 in Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO)

Argent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,624 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $437,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ONTO. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Onto Innovation during the second quarter valued at about $397,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Onto Innovation by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,943 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $15,137,000 after purchasing an additional 9,319 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Onto Innovation in the second quarter worth $5,878,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Onto Innovation by 124.8% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 5,649 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,240,000 after acquiring an additional 3,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Onto Innovation by 7.5% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 3,584 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $791,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. 98.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Onto Innovation Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of ONTO traded up $3.50 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $216.52. 753,969 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 728,719. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $172.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $192.05. The firm has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.68, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.29. Onto Innovation Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.15 and a 12-month high of $238.93.

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The semiconductor company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.03. Onto Innovation had a net margin of 19.44% and a return on equity of 13.38%. The business had revenue of $252.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $250.85 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Onto Innovation Inc. will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Onto Innovation news, CEO Michael P. Plisinski sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 215,492 shares in the company, valued at $43,139,343.48. This represents a 8.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Srinivas Vedula sold 827 shares of Onto Innovation stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $169,535.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,223 shares in the company, valued at $3,120,715. This represents a 5.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on ONTO. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $275.00 price objective on shares of Onto Innovation in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Onto Innovation from $265.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on Onto Innovation from $245.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Onto Innovation in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Onto Innovation in a research report on Monday. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $253.75.

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.