Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) Shares Gap Down on Insider Selling

Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $224.50, but opened at $216.86. Onto Innovation shares last traded at $216.33, with a volume of 69,151 shares.

Specifically, CEO Michael P. Plisinski sold 35,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.19, for a total value of $7,671,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,492 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,986,341.48. This represents a 18.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael P. Plisinski sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.24, for a total value 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 approximately $39,183,330.08. This trade represents a 13.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ONTO shares. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Onto Innovation in a research report on Monday, January 13th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Onto Innovation in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Onto Innovation from $265.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research 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 for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $275.00 price objective on shares of Onto Innovation in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $253.75.

Onto Innovation Trading Down 1.7 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $10.53 billion, a PE ratio of 57.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $178.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $191.98.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Onto Innovation

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Onto Innovation by 304.9% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 447,844 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $98,329,000 after buying an additional 337,250 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings 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 worth $222,670,000 after purchasing an additional 295,869 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 811.7% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 319,116 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $66,236,000 after purchasing an additional 284,115 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 12.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,008,399 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $416,863,000 after purchasing an additional 228,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 1,296.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 217,190 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $45,079,000 after purchasing an additional 201,640 shares during the last quarter. 98.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.