Evercore ISI Initiates Coverage on Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO)

Equities researchers at Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) in a research report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $235.00 price target on the semiconductor company’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 29.08% from the stock’s previous close.

ONTO has been the topic of a number of other reports. B. Riley lifted their price target on shares of Onto Innovation from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Onto Innovation from $188.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of Onto Innovation from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Onto Innovation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.60.

Onto Innovation Stock Performance

Shares of ONTO stock opened at $182.06 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $181.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.93. The stock has a market cap of $8.94 billion, a PE ratio of 74.01 and a beta of 1.40. Onto Innovation has a 52-week low of $76.40 and a 52-week high of $199.72.

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The semiconductor company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $219.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $209.06 million. Onto Innovation had a net margin of 14.85% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.57 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Onto Innovation will post 4.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Onto Innovation

In related news, CEO Michael P. Plisinski sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.48, for a total value of $7,019,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 235,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,324,136.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Onto Innovation news, Director David Brian Miller sold 2,800 shares of Onto Innovation stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.49, for a total value of $477,372.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,535,773.92. 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 40,000 shares of Onto Innovation stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.48, for a total transaction of $7,019,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 235,492 shares in the company, valued at $41,324,136.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 47,170 shares of company stock valued at $8,266,955. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Onto Innovation

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ONTO. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Onto Innovation by 198.3% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 173 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Onto Innovation during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in shares of Onto Innovation by 70.3% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 247 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Onto Innovation during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in shares of Onto Innovation by 51.3% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 516 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. 98.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.