Congress Asset Management Co. Reduces Stock Holdings in Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO)

Congress Asset Management Co. decreased its holdings in Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO) by 54.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 488,180 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 584,616 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Onto Innovation were worth $81,365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 138,314 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $23,053,000 after acquiring an additional 1,388 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Onto Innovation by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 403,971 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $69,119,000 after buying an additional 36,213 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its position in Onto Innovation by 38.1% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 1,921 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Onto Innovation in the fourth quarter worth about $355,000. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Onto Innovation by 45.8% in the fourth quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 14,301 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,384,000 after purchasing an additional 4,492 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.35% of the company’s stock.

Onto Innovation Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Onto Innovation stock opened at $176.68 on Friday. Onto Innovation Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.15 and a 52 week high of $238.93. The company has a market capitalization of $8.73 billion, a PE ratio of 43.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $186.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $189.63.

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) last issued its earnings results 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 14.41% and a net margin of 20.43%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Onto Innovation Inc. will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ONTO shares. 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. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Onto Innovation in a report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Onto Innovation from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Onto Innovation in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Onto Innovation from $265.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Onto Innovation currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $251.25.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $169,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,223 shares in the company, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael P. Plisinski sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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. This trade represents a 18.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 85,827 shares of company stock worth $18,182,185 in the last three months. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.