Stifel Nicolaus Has Lowered Expectations for Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) Stock Price

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) had its price objective dropped by equities researchers at Stifel Nicolaus from $200.00 to $180.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 49.23% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Onto Innovation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Onto Innovation from $245.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Onto Innovation in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Onto Innovation in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Onto Innovation from $240.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Onto Innovation currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.13.

Onto Innovation Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ONTO traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $120.62. The company had a trading volume of 186,072 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,066,232. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $141.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $171.33. The firm has a market cap of $5.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.46. Onto Innovation has a 1-year low of $98.21 and a 1-year high of $238.93.

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) last released 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 net margin of 20.43% and a return on equity of 14.24%. Analysts expect that Onto Innovation will post 6.26 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael P. Plisinski sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.24, for a total transaction of $6,337,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 185,492 shares in the company, valued at $39,183,330.08. This represents a 13.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Srinivas Vedula sold 827 shares of Onto Innovation stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,223 shares in the company, 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 65,827 shares of company stock valued at $14,178,385. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ONTO. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Onto Innovation during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in shares of Onto Innovation by 209.4% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 164 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in Onto Innovation by 177.6% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 236 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Onto Innovation in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased 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 buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. 98.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.