D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Acquires 27,234 Shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) by 13.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 224,573 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 27,234 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned about 0.35% of Photronics worth $5,291,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Photronics by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,007,582 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $23,739,000 after purchasing an additional 40,579 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Photronics in the 4th quarter valued at $298,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Photronics by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 376,726 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $8,876,000 after buying an additional 44,602 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Photronics by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,868,889 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $138,271,000 after purchasing an additional 29,681 shares during the period. Finally, Four Tree Island Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Photronics in the fourth quarter valued at $3,472,000. 88.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Photronics news, Director Walter M. Fiederowicz sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total value of $95,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,548 shares of the company's stock, valued at $470,339.68. This trade represents a 16.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.90, for a total value of $209,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 552,100 shares in the company, valued at $11,538,890. This trade represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,548 shares of company stock valued at $1,093,093 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Photronics Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ PLAB traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $19.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 53,086 shares, compared to its average volume of 530,484. Photronics, Inc. has a one year low of $16.46 and a one year high of $31.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $19.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.53 and a beta of 1.43.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.05. Photronics had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 9.10%. The company had revenue of $212.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $210.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.48 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share 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.