Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO) Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its position in shares of Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO) by 9.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 79,557 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 7,922 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.16% of Onto Innovation worth $13,260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in shares of Onto Innovation by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 6,953 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,159,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Onto Innovation in the 4th quarter worth about $87,987,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Onto Innovation by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,192,238 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $365,380,000 after buying an additional 183,839 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Onto Innovation by 41.6% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,515,152 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $252,530,000 after acquiring an additional 444,860 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summitry LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 42.6% during the 4th quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares during the period. 98.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on ONTO shares. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Onto Innovation from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Onto Innovation in a report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $200.00 target price on Onto Innovation and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Onto Innovation from $245.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $231.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Onto Innovation news, CEO Michael P. Plisinski sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.19, for a total transaction of $4,003,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 215,492 shares in the company, valued at $43,139,343.48. This represents a 8.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Srinivas Vedula sold 827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was 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 approximately $3,120,715. This represents a 5.15 % 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 valued at $18,182,185 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Onto Innovation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ONTO opened at $104.63 on Friday. Onto Innovation Inc. has a 1-year low of $98.21 and a 1-year high of $238.93. The company has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.77, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $154.44 and a 200-day moving average of $176.13.

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) last issued 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%. Research analysts expect that Onto Innovation Inc. will post 6.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.