The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires 1,076 Shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) by 3.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,433 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,076 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.05% of Photronics worth $849,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Photronics by 20.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 336,745 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,307,000 after buying an additional 58,080 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. boosted its position in shares of Photronics by 77.6% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 14,705 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 6,424 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP raised its position in shares of Photronics by 45.3% during the 2nd quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 13,732 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 4,283 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in shares of Photronics by 269.6% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 54,443 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 39,712 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Photronics by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 139,383 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,439,000 after buying an additional 11,055 shares during the period. 88.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com raised Photronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 28th.

Photronics Price Performance

PLAB stock opened at $24.20 on Monday. Photronics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.03 and a 1-year high of $34.16. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.58. The company has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.20 and a beta of 1.40.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.05). Photronics had a return on equity of 9.46% and a net margin of 16.22%. The company had revenue of $211.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $225.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Photronics Company Profile

Photronics, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of photomask products and services in the United States, Taiwan, China, Korea, Europe, and internationally. It offers photomasks that are used in the manufacture of integrated circuits and flat panel displays (FPDs); and to transfer circuit patterns onto semiconductor wafers, and FDP substrates.