Lazard Asset Management LLC Buys 184,612 Shares of Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO)

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO - Free Report) by 80.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 412,720 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 184,612 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 0.84% of Onto Innovation worth $68,786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ONTO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Onto Innovation by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,166,137 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $861,040,000 after buying an additional 76,233 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Onto Innovation by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,192,238 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $365,380,000 after purchasing an additional 183,839 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Onto Innovation by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,553,271 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $258,883,000 after acquiring an additional 271,470 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Onto Innovation by 41.6% during the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,515,152 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $252,530,000 after purchasing an additional 444,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Onto Innovation by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,406,034 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $234,344,000 after acquiring an additional 356,161 shares in the last quarter. 98.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Onto Innovation Stock Performance

ONTO traded up $1.25 during trading on Friday, reaching $99.29. 1,140,537 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 896,299. Onto Innovation Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.88 and a fifty-two week high of $238.93. The company's fifty day moving average price is $121.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $157.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a PE ratio of 24.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.55.

Onto Innovation (NYSE:ONTO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.04. Onto Innovation had a net margin of 20.43% and a return on equity of 14.24%. The company had revenue of $267.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $267.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Onto Innovation Inc. will post 6.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ONTO. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Onto Innovation from $200.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Onto Innovation from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price 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 decreased their price objective on shares of Onto Innovation from $230.00 to $150.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $135.00 target price (down previously from $250.00) on shares of Onto Innovation in a report on Monday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $177.14.

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.