Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 970,500 shares, a growth of 19.7% from the August 31st total of 810,800 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 740,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on ONTO shares. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Onto Innovation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Onto Innovation in a research note on Friday, August 9th. B. Riley raised their target price on shares of Onto Innovation from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Onto Innovation from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Onto Innovation in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $259.17.

Insider Transactions at Onto Innovation

In related news, SVP Srinivas Vedula sold 1,275 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.24, for a total value of $264,231.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,326,202. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Onto Innovation

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 232.4% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 113 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in Onto Innovation by 675.0% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 124 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Onto Innovation in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Onto Innovation in the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 41.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 292 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.35% of the company’s stock.

Onto Innovation Stock Performance

ONTO traded down $7.80 during trading on Monday, reaching $207.57. The company had a trading volume of 686,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 553,213. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $195.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $202.76. The company has a market cap of $10.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.64 and a beta of 1.37. Onto Innovation has a 12-month low of $108.98 and a 12-month high of $238.93.

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The semiconductor company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $242.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $235.43 million. Onto Innovation had a net margin of 18.50% and a return on equity of 12.71%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Onto Innovation will post 5.18 EPS for the current 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.