Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Boosts Stock Position in Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO - Free Report) by 41.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,515,152 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 444,860 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned 3.07% of Onto Innovation worth $252,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ONTO. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 52.3% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,435 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Onto Innovation by 287.0% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 4,663 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $968,000 after acquiring an additional 3,458 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Onto Innovation by 32.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 82,500 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $17,124,000 after acquiring an additional 20,100 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Onto Innovation during the 3rd quarter valued at $125,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Onto Innovation by 644.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 50,782 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $10,937,000 after purchasing an additional 43,959 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.35% of the company's stock.

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Onto Innovation Stock Performance

Shares of ONTO traded down $6.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $121.99. 979,804 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 737,240. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $164.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $178.80. Onto Innovation Inc. has a 52-week low of $120.68 and a 52-week high of $238.93. The company has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a PE ratio of 30.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.29.

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO - Get Free Report) 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 14.24% and a net margin of 20.43%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Onto Innovation Inc. will post 6.26 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Onto Innovation

In related news, CEO Michael P. Plisinski sold 35,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 150,492 shares in the company, valued at $32,986,341.48. The trade was a 18.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Srinivas Vedula sold 827 shares of Onto Innovation stock in a transaction 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 owns 15,223 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 85,827 shares of company stock worth $18,182,185. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ONTO. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Onto Innovation in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated 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 set a $200.00 price target on shares of Onto Innovation and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Onto Innovation from $245.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Onto Innovation from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $231.88.

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.