Photronics, Inc. $PLAB Shares Acquired by AQR Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC has increased its stake in Photronics, Inc. by 13.7%, now holding a position worth approximately $7.72 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Corporate insiders, including directors, have sold a total of 74,382 shares of Photronics stock in recent months, indicating some level of insider activity in the company.
• Photronics reported earnings of $0.51 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, with a market capitalization of $1.37 billion and a current average target price of $31.00 from analysts.

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) by 13.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 371,815 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 44,764 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.58% of Photronics worth $7,719,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Photronics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Photronics in the first quarter valued at approximately $98,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Photronics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $110,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Photronics by 36.1% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,755 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Photronics by 11.9% in the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 9,400 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.38% of the company's stock.

Photronics Trading Up 2.2%

PLAB stock traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $23.41. 922,953 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 739,501. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a PE ratio of 13.30 and a beta of 1.53. Photronics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.46 and a 1-year high of $31.60.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The semiconductor company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $210.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $204.30 million. Photronics had a return on equity of 8.19% and a net margin of 12.67%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. Photronics has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.420-0.480 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Photronics

In other news, EVP Christopher J. Progler sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.93, for a total transaction of $219,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 200,591 shares in the company, valued at $4,398,960.63. This trade represents a 4.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Constantine S. Macricostas sold 29,500 shares of Photronics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.20, for a total value of $595,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 459,623 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,284,384.60. This trade represents a 6.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 74,382 shares of company stock valued at $1,534,335. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on PLAB. Craig Hallum began coverage on Photronics in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Singular Research raised Photronics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Wall Street Zen raised Photronics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price target on Photronics from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $31.00.

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.