Onto Innovation Inc. (NYSE:ONTO) shareholders may have reason to be concerned, as several insiders sold their shares over the past year. Knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more helpful when evaluating insider transactions, as insider selling can have various explanations. However, if numerous insiders are selling, shareholders should investigate more.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

View our latest analysis for Onto Innovation

Onto Innovation Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the insider, David Miller, for US$498k worth of shares, at about US$99.84 per share. That means that an insider was selling shares at slightly below the current price (US$138). As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. This single sale was just 34% of David Miller's stake.

Insiders in Onto Innovation didn't buy any shares in the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insider Ownership Of Onto Innovation

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Onto Innovation insiders own about US$65m worth of shares. That equates to 1.0% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Onto Innovation Tell Us?

The fact that there have been no Onto Innovation insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. Still, the insider transactions at Onto Innovation in the last 12 months are not very heartening. But it's good to see that insiders own shares in the company. Therefore, you should definitely take a look at this FREE report showing analyst forecasts for Onto Innovation.

Of course Onto Innovation may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.