Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its position in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) by 9.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,069 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 3,364 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Photronics were worth $769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Photronics by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,735 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Photronics by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 28,145 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $694,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Photronics by 65.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,434 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in Photronics by 137.2% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,212 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Koss Olinger Consulting LLC boosted its position in Photronics by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC now owns 18,714 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $463,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. 88.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PLAB shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Photronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 28th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Photronics from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday.

Photronics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PLAB opened at $26.49 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.67 and a beta of 1.41. Photronics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.25 and a 1-year high of $34.16. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $24.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.56.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 11th. The semiconductor company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $222.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.00 million. Photronics had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 9.10%. The company’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Photronics

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.