Alliancebernstein L.P. Trims Stock Position in Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO)

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its holdings in Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO) by 42.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 220,624 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 162,627 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.45% of Onto Innovation worth $36,771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Onto Innovation during the 4th quarter worth $87,987,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Onto Innovation by 41.6% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,515,152 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $252,530,000 after purchasing an additional 444,860 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Onto Innovation during the fourth quarter valued at $43,893,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Onto Innovation during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,946,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Onto Innovation by 12.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,008,399 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $416,863,000 after purchasing an additional 228,800 shares during the period. 98.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ONTO. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Onto Innovation from $245.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Onto Innovation in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Onto Innovation in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Onto Innovation from $275.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Onto Innovation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Srinivas Vedula sold 827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,120,715. This trade represents a 5.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael P. Plisinski sold 20,000 shares of Onto Innovation stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.19, for a total value of $4,003,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 215,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,139,343.48. This trade represents a 8.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 85,827 shares of company stock worth $18,182,185. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Onto Innovation Stock Down 4.7 %

Shares of Onto Innovation stock opened at $104.63 on Friday. Onto Innovation Inc. has a twelve month low of $98.21 and a twelve month high of $238.93. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $154.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.13. The firm has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.77, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.29.

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, 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, equities analysts expect that Onto Innovation Inc. will post 6.26 EPS for the current fiscal 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.