Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) Hits New 52-Week Low on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $245.00 to $175.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Onto Innovation traded as low as $120.68 and last traded at $122.08, with a volume of 249288 shares. The stock had previously closed at $128.42.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on ONTO. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Onto Innovation in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Onto Innovation in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Onto Innovation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Onto Innovation from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Onto Innovation from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Srinivas Vedula sold 827 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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. This represents a 5.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael P. Plisinski sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.24, for a total value of $6,337,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 185,492 shares in the company, valued at $39,183,330.08. This trade represents a 13.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 85,827 shares of company stock worth $18,182,185. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Onto Innovation by 52.3% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,435 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $298,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 287.0% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 4,663 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $968,000 after purchasing an additional 3,458 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Onto Innovation in the third quarter worth about $125,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Onto Innovation by 644.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 50,782 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $10,937,000 after purchasing an additional 43,959 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Onto Innovation by 65.2% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 185,876 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $38,580,000 after purchasing an additional 73,380 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.35% of the company’s stock.

Onto Innovation Trading Down 5.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a PE ratio of 30.05, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $164.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $178.80.

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.10. Onto Innovation had a return on equity of 14.24% and a net margin of 20.43%. Equities analysts expect that Onto Innovation Inc. will post 6.26 earnings per share 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.