Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,420,000 shares, a growth of 18.3% from the January 15th total of 1,200,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 839,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Onto Innovation news, SVP Srinivas Vedula sold 827 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 5.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael P. Plisinski sold 35,000 shares of Onto Innovation stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $32,986,341.48. The trade was a 18.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 85,827 shares of company stock valued at $18,182,185. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Onto Innovation

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ONTO. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Onto Innovation in the 4th quarter worth approximately $87,987,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its position in Onto Innovation by 41.6% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,515,152 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $252,530,000 after purchasing an additional 444,860 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Onto Innovation by 72.2% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 870,250 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $145,045,000 after purchasing an additional 364,853 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Onto Innovation by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,406,034 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $234,344,000 after buying an additional 356,161 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Onto Innovation by 38.1% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 1,072,796 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $222,670,000 after buying an additional 295,869 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.35% of the company's stock.

Onto Innovation Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Onto Innovation stock traded down $2.07 on Wednesday, hitting $170.67. 720,895 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 986,897. Onto Innovation has a 12-month low of $145.15 and a 12-month high of $238.93. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $186.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $189.75. The company has a market cap of $8.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.31.

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Onto Innovation had a return on equity of 14.24% and a net margin of 20.43%. Analysts predict that Onto Innovation will post 6.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ONTO. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Onto Innovation in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Onto Innovation from $265.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Onto Innovation in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Onto Innovation from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $275.00 target price on shares of Onto Innovation in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $251.25.

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.