Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) Reaches New 1-Year Low – What’s Next?

Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $115.70 and last traded at $116.91, with a volume of 43552 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $125.43.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on ONTO. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Onto Innovation from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Onto Innovation in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Onto Innovation from $245.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Onto Innovation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $200.00 target price on Onto Innovation and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.88.

Onto Innovation Price Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $158.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a PE ratio of 27.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.29.

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 research analysts anticipate that Onto Innovation Inc. will post 6.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Onto Innovation news, CEO Michael P. Plisinski sold 35,000 shares of the company’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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Srinivas Vedula sold 827 shares of Onto Innovation stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $169,535.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,120,715. The trade was a 5.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 85,827 shares of company stock valued at $18,182,185 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Onto Innovation

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Onto Innovation by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,166,137 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $861,040,000 after purchasing an additional 76,233 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 9.2% during 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. raised its position in shares of Onto Innovation by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,553,271 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $258,883,000 after buying an additional 271,470 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Onto Innovation by 41.6% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,515,152 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $252,530,000 after buying an additional 444,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in Onto Innovation by 2.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,469,969 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $305,107,000 after acquiring an additional 39,367 shares during the last quarter. 98.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.