Jefferies Financial Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) Stock Price

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) had its target price lowered by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from $400.00 to $350.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 77.30% from the stock’s current price.

ONTO has been the topic of several other reports. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $390.00 target price on shares of Onto Innovation in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Onto Innovation from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Onto Innovation from $360.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Onto Innovation from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Onto Innovation from $360.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Onto Innovation presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $354.55.

Onto Innovation Stock Performance

NYSE:ONTO traded up $3.37 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $197.41. The company had a trading volume of 1,948,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,064,127. The company has a current ratio of 9.73, a quick ratio of 8.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Onto Innovation has a 52 week low of $121.57 and a 52 week high of $386.46. The firm has a market cap of $9.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.21, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $252.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $259.19.

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 9th. The semiconductor company reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $409.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $392.08 million. Onto Innovation had a return on equity of 13.44% and a net margin of 11.84%. The company’s revenue was up 87.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Onto Innovation will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Onto Innovation news, Director David Miller sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,692 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,207,600. This trade represents a 15.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Susan D. Lynch sold 1,000 shares of Onto Innovation stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.30, for a total transaction of $302,300.00. Following the sale, the director owned 2,684 shares in the company, valued at approximately $811,373.20. The trade was a 27.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Onto Innovation during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,083,436,000. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY bought a new position in Onto Innovation in the second quarter worth approximately $416,839,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Onto Innovation during the 2nd quarter worth $251,812,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Onto Innovation during the 2nd quarter worth $162,052,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Onto Innovation by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 677,502 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $138,898,000 after purchasing an additional 28,137 shares during the period. 98.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Onto Innovation News

Here are the key news stories impacting Onto Innovation this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 revenue reached a record $409.75 million, up 88% year over year, while EPS of $2.44 beat the roughly $2.30 consensus. Revenue, operating margin and EPS also exceeded the high end of the company’s prior guidance. Onto Innovation Q3 results
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 guidance calls for revenue of $430 million–$450 million and EPS of $2.59–$2.79, both above consensus estimates. The reported backlog of more than $1.3 billion and AI-related demand add support to the growth outlook. Q4 outlook and backlog
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley, RBC and B. Riley cut their price targets to $325, $350 and $285, respectively, but retained Overweight, Outperform and Buy ratings. The reductions may temper sentiment, though all three targets remain above the price cited in the reports. Morgan Stanley rating RBC rating B. Riley rating
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst commentary flags valuation and execution risks, which could limit the market’s reaction to the strong results and upbeat outlook. Zacks outlook and risks

About Onto Innovation

Onto Innovation develops process-control and inspection solutions used in semiconductor manufacturing. Its products include metrology and inspection systems, lithography equipment, and software that help manufacturers monitor production processes and identify defects. The company serves producers of semiconductor devices, advanced packaging, and specialty components. Its technologies support applications ranging from traditional wafer fabrication to newer packaging methods used in complex chips.