Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO) Short Interest Update

Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 1,165,350 shares, an increase of 16.1% from the February 12th total of 1,003,785 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,255,895 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.9 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,255,895 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.9 days. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ONTO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Onto Innovation from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Onto Innovation in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Onto Innovation in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Onto Innovation from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Onto Innovation in a research report on Friday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $252.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Onto Innovation

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. DUTCH ASSET Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Onto Innovation in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,157,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Onto Innovation by 450.0% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,676 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,689,000 after purchasing an additional 8,735 shares in the last quarter. MidFirst Bank purchased a new position in Onto Innovation during the fourth quarter worth about $133,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Onto Innovation by 3,305.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 335,018 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $52,886,000 after purchasing an additional 325,179 shares during the period. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Onto Innovation in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,160,000. 98.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Onto Innovation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ONTO traded up $3.56 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $198.20. The company had a trading volume of 107,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 936,704. The company has a market capitalization of $9.85 billion, a PE ratio of 71.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.47. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $206.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $161.12. Onto Innovation has a 1-year low of $85.88 and a 1-year high of $232.49.

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.02). Onto Innovation had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 13.60%.The company had revenue of $266.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $265.78 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.51 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Onto Innovation has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.260-1.360 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Onto Innovation will post 6.26 EPS for the current year.

About Onto Innovation

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO) is a global supplier of advanced process control and inspection systems for semiconductor and electronics manufacturers. The company’s solutions span metrology, inspection, defect review and lithography mask repair, helping customers optimize yield, reduce costs and improve device performance. By integrating high-resolution optical and e-beam tools with sophisticated software analytics, Onto Innovation enables wafer, mask and advanced packaging producers to maintain tight process control across leading-edge nodes and specialty applications.

Key products include high-throughput wafer metrology systems, optical and e-beam defect inspection platforms, mask inspection and repair tools, and data-driven software for yield management and process optimization.