Bailard Inc. Makes New $572,000 Investment in Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO)

Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,434 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $572,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Onto Innovation in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in Onto Innovation by 209.4% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 164 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Onto Innovation by 532.4% in the fourth 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. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Onto Innovation during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Onto Innovation by 22.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.35% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Onto Innovation

In other news, SVP Srinivas Vedula sold 827 shares of Onto Innovation 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 stock was sold at an average price of $211.24, for a total transaction of $6,337,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 185,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,183,330.08. This represents a 13.92 % decrease in their position. 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.

Onto Innovation Price Performance

NYSE ONTO opened at $135.03 on Wednesday. Onto Innovation Inc. has a 12 month low of $129.53 and a 12 month high of $238.93. The company has a market capitalization of $6.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.26, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $183.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.23.

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) 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, analysts anticipate that Onto Innovation Inc. will post 6.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ONTO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Onto Innovation from $270.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Onto Innovation in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Onto Innovation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Onto Innovation in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Onto Innovation in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $246.88.

Onto Innovation 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.