Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,420,000 shares, a growth of 18.3% from the January 15th total of 1,200,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 839,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on ONTO shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Onto Innovation from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Onto Innovation in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Onto Innovation from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Onto Innovation from $265.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Onto Innovation in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $251.25.

Onto Innovation Stock Performance

Shares of ONTO traded up $2.83 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $176.68. 1,079,850 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 884,934. The company has a market cap 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. Onto Innovation has a 52-week low of $145.15 and a 52-week high of $238.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $186.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $189.62.

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Onto Innovation had a net margin of 20.43% and a return on equity of 14.41%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Onto Innovation will post 6.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Onto Innovation

In other Onto Innovation news, CEO Michael P. Plisinski sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Srinivas Vedula sold 827 shares of the company’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 represents a 5.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 85,827 shares of company stock valued at $18,182,185. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ONTO. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Onto Innovation during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in Onto Innovation by 209.4% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 164 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Onto Innovation during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 532.4% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 234 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Onto Innovation during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. 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.