Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Increases Stock Position in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 87,932 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,951 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.14% of Photronics worth $2,169,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Photronics by 225.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 840,538 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $23,805,000 after buying an additional 582,664 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in Photronics by 16.0% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,990,046 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $49,094,000 after purchasing an additional 275,082 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Photronics by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,715,429 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $161,861,000 after purchasing an additional 265,533 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Photronics by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,684,647 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $41,560,000 after purchasing an additional 191,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Photronics by 500.0% during the 1st quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. now owns 126,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,568,000 after purchasing an additional 105,000 shares during the period. 88.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Photronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday.

Photronics Trading Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ:PLAB opened at $23.37 on Monday. Photronics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $18.03 and a 12 month high of $34.16. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $23.96 and its 200 day moving average is $26.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a PE ratio of 10.82 and a beta of 1.40.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.05). Photronics had a net margin of 16.22% and a return on equity of 9.46%. The firm had revenue of $211.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $225.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current 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.