Short Interest in Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO) Drops By 20.5%

Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,200,000 shares, a decrease of 20.5% from the February 28th total of 1,510,000 shares. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 964,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ONTO has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Onto Innovation from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Onto Innovation from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Onto Innovation in a report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Onto Innovation from $245.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Onto Innovation in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $231.88.

Insider Activity at Onto Innovation

In other Onto Innovation news, SVP Srinivas Vedula sold 827 shares of Onto Innovation stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $169,535.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael P. Plisinski sold 35,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 150,492 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,986,341.48. The trade was a 18.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 85,827 shares of company stock valued at $18,182,185 over the last 90 days. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Onto Innovation

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Onto Innovation by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,166,137 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $861,040,000 after buying an additional 76,233 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Onto Innovation by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,192,238 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $365,380,000 after buying an additional 183,839 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Onto Innovation by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,553,271 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $258,883,000 after buying an additional 271,470 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Onto Innovation by 41.6% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,515,152 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $252,530,000 after acquiring an additional 444,860 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,469,969 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $305,107,000 after acquiring an additional 39,367 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.35% of the company's stock.

Onto Innovation Stock Down 6.4 %

Shares of ONTO traded down $7.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $102.82. 738,729 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 744,875. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.24, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.29. The business's 50-day moving average price is $156.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.83. Onto Innovation has a 1 year low of $98.23 and a 1 year high of $238.93.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Onto Innovation had a net margin of 20.43% and a return on equity of 14.24%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Onto Innovation will post 6.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.