Easterly Investment Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) by 14.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 475,488 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 61,294 shares during the period. Easterly Investment Partners LLC owned about 0.75% of Photronics worth $9,871,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PLAB. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in Photronics in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Photronics in the fourth quarter worth about $66,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Photronics in the fourth quarter worth about $101,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Photronics in the fourth quarter worth about $110,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in Photronics by 36.1% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,755 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,793 shares in the last quarter. 88.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PLAB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Photronics from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Craig Hallum began coverage on shares of Photronics in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Photronics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th.

Photronics Stock Performance

Shares of PLAB stock traded down $0.41 on Friday, hitting $19.22. 454,764 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 558,284. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $19.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of 10.01 and a beta of 1.40. Photronics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.46 and a twelve month high of $31.60.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $210.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $212.00 million. Photronics had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 8.54%. The business's revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Photronics news, Director David A. Garcia bought 2,650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $19.00 per share, with a total value of $50,350.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 10,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $193,762. This represents a 35.11% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kang Jyh Lee sold 4,882 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.35, for a total value of $89,584.70. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 532,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,764,035. This trade represents a 0.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,382 shares of company stock valued at $985,035 in the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Photronics 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.