Charlotte, North Carolina-based Sterling Capital Management Company has become a party at interest in Orbotech Ltd. (Nasdaq: ORBK), increased its stake in the Israeli automatic optical inspection equipment maker to 5.2% from 4.13%. Orbotech's share has fallen 66% in the past six months, and some investors see a buying opportunity.
Sterling Capital's purchase belied the recommendations of some of the analysts covering Orbotech. Earlier this month, Oscar Gruss & Sons downgraded its recommendation from "Buy" to "Reduce" and halved its target price from $6 to $3. The Maxim Group also downgraded its recommendation from "Buy" to "Hold". Orbotech's share has been fairly stable since the downgrades. The share fell 1.7% on Friday to $4.12, giving a market cap of $137.8 million.
In November 2008, Orbotech restructured and fired 15% of its workforce. A month earlier, it completed its largest-even acquisition, Photon Dynamics Inc. of the US for $290 million in cash. The acquisition greatly strengthened Orbotech's position in the inspection equipment for flat screens market.
In unrelated news, parties at interest in two other Israeli high-tech companies notified the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday that they had increased their holdings. On Thursday, Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE: BEN) bought 650,000 shares in Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Pink Sheets: TAROF) increasing its stake 13.1%. Franklin paid $8.50 per share, for a total of $5.25 million. Taro rose 6.1% on Friday to $9.60.
Radvision Ltd. (Nasdaq: RVSN; TASE: RVSN) chairman Yehuda Zisapel increased his stake in the company from 5.2% to 6.8%. The share fell 1.5% on Nasdaq on Friday to $4.48.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 25, 2009
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2009