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

Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 938,748 shares, a decline of 19.4% from the February 26th total of 1,165,350 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 780,673 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ONTO shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Onto Innovation in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Onto Innovation from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $220.00 target price on Onto Innovation in a report on Friday, February 20th. B. Riley Financial raised their price target on shares of Onto Innovation from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Onto Innovation in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $252.50.

Onto Innovation Price Performance

Shares of Onto Innovation stock traded up $11.20 on Wednesday, hitting $216.27. 275,564 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 908,277. The company has a fifty day moving average of $207.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $168.89. Onto Innovation has a one year low of $85.88 and a one year high of $232.49. The company has a market capitalization of $10.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.47.

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $266.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $265.78 million. Onto Innovation had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 13.60%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. Onto Innovation has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.260-1.360 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Onto Innovation will post 6.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Onto Innovation

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Onto Innovation by 100.0% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 71.2% during the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 178 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Onto Innovation by 188.5% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 176 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Onto Innovation by 2,061.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 281 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Onto Innovation in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. 98.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Onto Innovation

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) is a global supplier of advanced process control and inspection systems for semiconductor and electronics manufacturers. The company’s solutions span metrology, inspection, defect review and lithography mask repair, helping customers optimize yield, reduce costs and improve device performance. By integrating high-resolution optical and e-beam tools with sophisticated software analytics, Onto Innovation enables wafer, mask and advanced packaging producers to maintain tight process control across leading-edge nodes and specialty applications.

Key products include high-throughput wafer metrology systems, optical and e-beam defect inspection platforms, mask inspection and repair tools, and data-driven software for yield management and process optimization.