Stifel Nicolaus Cuts Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) Price Target to $180.00

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) had its price objective reduced by equities researchers at Stifel Nicolaus from $200.00 to $180.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price indicates a potential upside of 49.23% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Onto Innovation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Onto Innovation in a research report on Friday, February 7th. 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. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Onto Innovation from $245.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Onto Innovation from $240.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.13.

Onto Innovation Price Performance

Shares of ONTO stock traded down $0.15 on Tuesday, reaching $120.62. 186,072 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,066,232. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $141.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $171.33. The stock has a market cap of $5.94 billion, a PE ratio of 29.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.46. Onto Innovation has a one year low of $98.21 and a one year high of $238.93.

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 14.24%. On average, research analysts expect that Onto Innovation will post 6.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Onto Innovation news, SVP Srinivas Vedula sold 827 shares of the firm’s 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 $3,120,715. This trade represents a 5.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael P. Plisinski sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 owns 150,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,986,341.48. This represents a 18.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 65,827 shares of company stock worth $14,178,385. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Onto Innovation

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ONTO. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Onto Innovation by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 16,083 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,680,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Onto Innovation by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,008,399 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $416,863,000 after purchasing an additional 228,800 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 1,296.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 217,190 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $45,079,000 after purchasing an additional 201,640 shares during the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 40.2% in the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 140,455 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $23,410,000 after purchasing an additional 40,290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Argent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Onto Innovation during the 4th quarter worth about $437,000. 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.