Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO) Short Interest Down 20.5% in March

by · The Cerbat Gem

Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO – Get Free Report) saw a large 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 company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 964,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days.

Onto Innovation Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of Onto Innovation stock traded up $2.62 on Wednesday, hitting $125.69. The stock had a trading volume of 553,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 740,263. Onto Innovation has a one year low of $116.07 and a one year high of $238.93. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $160.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.66. The stock has a market cap of $6.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.96, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.29.

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO – Get Free Report) last released 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Onto Innovation will post 6.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on ONTO shares. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Onto Innovation in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Onto Innovation in a research report on Friday, February 7th. 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, March 28th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $200.00 price target on Onto Innovation and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Onto Innovation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.88.

Get Our Latest Report on ONTO

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Srinivas Vedula sold 827 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,120,715. This trade represents a 5.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael P. Plisinski sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.19, for a total value of $7,671,650.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 150,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,986,341.48. This represents a 18.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 85,827 shares of company stock worth $18,182,185 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 76,233 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Onto Innovation by 9.2% in the fourth 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. boosted its position in Onto Innovation by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,553,271 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $258,883,000 after acquiring an additional 271,470 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 444,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Onto Innovation by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,469,969 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $305,107,000 after purchasing an additional 39,367 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.35% of the company’s stock.

About Onto Innovation

(Get Free Report)

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.

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