Jefferies Financial Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) Stock Price

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) had its price objective cut by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $245.00 to $175.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective points to a potential upside of 36.07% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on ONTO. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target 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. 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 reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Onto Innovation in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Onto Innovation in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Onto Innovation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.13.

Onto Innovation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ONTO opened at $128.61 on Friday. Onto Innovation has a 1-year low of $121.47 and a 1-year high of $238.93. The company has a market capitalization of $6.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.68, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50-day moving average of $166.46 and a 200-day moving average of $179.24.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $169,535.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,120,715. This trade represents a 5.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael P. Plisinski sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 185,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,183,330.08. This represents a 13.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 85,827 shares of company stock valued at $18,182,185 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Onto Innovation

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Onto Innovation by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its position in shares of Onto Innovation by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 1,050 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $218,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Onto Innovation by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 8,165 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,361,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,533 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Onto Innovation by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 2,415 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. 98.35% of the stock is 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.