Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 29,681 Shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,868,889 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,681 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.27% of Photronics worth $138,271,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Photronics by 216.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 762 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Photronics by 65.6% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,283 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 904 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Photronics by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,448 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Photronics by 76.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,467 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 1,506 shares during the period. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Photronics in the 4th quarter worth $110,000. 88.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Photronics news, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.90, for a total value of $209,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 552,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,538,890. This represents a 1.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Walter M. Fiederowicz sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total transaction of $95,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,339.68. This trade represents a 16.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,750 shares of company stock valued at $734,600 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Photronics from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Photronics Stock Performance

Shares of PLAB stock opened at $17.37 on Tuesday. Photronics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.46 and a fifty-two week high of $31.60. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.31 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $21.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.30.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $212.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $210.00 million. Photronics had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 9.10%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current 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.