Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO) by 35.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,617,760 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 427,056 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 3.31% of Onto Innovation worth $142,169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in shares of Onto Innovation by 51.3% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 516 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Onto Innovation in the second quarter worth about $52,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Onto Innovation in the fourth quarter worth about $68,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 51.3% during the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,221 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Onto Innovation by 1,909.5% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,266 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 1,203 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.78% of the company’s stock.

Onto Innovation Price Performance

ONTO stock opened at $134.06 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $116.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.19 and a beta of 1.36. Onto Innovation Inc. has a 1 year low of $56.02 and a 1 year high of $142.26.

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 10th. The semiconductor company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.04). Onto Innovation had a return on equity of 14.20% and a net margin of 19.32%. The firm had revenue of $190.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $203.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.28 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 25.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Onto Innovation Inc. will post 3.64 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Benchmark raised their target price on Onto Innovation from $118.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 11th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Onto Innovation in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Onto Innovation from $100.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Monday, June 5th. Needham & Company LLC cut shares of Onto Innovation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 14th. Finally, B. Riley lifted their price objective on shares of Onto Innovation from $135.00 to $140.00 in a report on Monday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $118.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Srinivas Vedula sold 1,469 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.00, for a total value of $201,253.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 17,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,462,712. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Srinivas Vedula sold 1,469 shares of Onto Innovation stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.00, for a total value of $201,253.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 17,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,462,712. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Ju Jin sold 3,231 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.17, for a total transaction of $339,804.27. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,254 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,078,413.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 35,700 shares of company stock valued at $4,039,407. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

About Onto Innovation

Onto Innovation Inc engages in the design, development, manufacture, and support of process control tools that performs macro defect inspection and 2D/3D optical metrology, lithography systems, and process control analytical software worldwide. It 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; and process control software portfolio that includes solutions for standalone tools, groups of tools, and enterprise-or factory-wide suites.