Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO) Short Interest Up 23.8% in February

Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,510,000 shares, a growth of 23.8% from the February 13th total of 1,220,000 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 933,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Onto Innovation Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of ONTO stock opened at $138.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $176.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $182.32. Onto Innovation has a fifty-two week low of $121.47 and a fifty-two week high of $238.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.29.

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.10. Onto Innovation had a return on equity of 14.24% and a net margin of 20.43%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Onto Innovation will post 6.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Onto Innovation in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Onto Innovation in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Onto Innovation from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised Onto Innovation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Onto Innovation from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Onto Innovation currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $246.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Onto Innovation news, CEO Michael P. Plisinski sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.24, for a total value of $6,337,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 185,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,183,330.08. This trade represents a 13.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Srinivas Vedula sold 827 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,223 shares in the company, valued at $3,120,715. This represents a 5.15 % 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 Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Onto Innovation in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in shares of Onto Innovation by 209.4% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 164 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Onto Innovation in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Onto Innovation by 532.4% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 234 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Onto Innovation in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors own 98.35% of the company’s stock.

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.