Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) Stock Holdings Lifted by Easterly Investment Partners LLC

Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) by 14.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 475,488 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 61,294 shares during the quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC owned about 0.75% of Photronics worth $9,871,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PLAB. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Photronics by 4.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 40,579 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Photronics during the 4th quarter worth $398,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Photronics during the 4th quarter worth $1,206,000. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Photronics by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 799,439 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $18,893,000 after buying an additional 249,222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Photronics in the 4th quarter worth $288,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.38% of the company's stock.

Photronics Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of Photronics stock traded up $0.46 on Thursday, reaching $19.63. 544,846 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 556,920. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $19.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.22 and a beta of 1.40. Photronics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.46 and a fifty-two week 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $210.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.00 million. Photronics had a return on equity of 8.54% and a net margin of 14.00%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Constantine S. Macricostas sold 29,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.20, for a total transaction of $595,900.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 459,623 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,284,384.60. The trade was a 6.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David A. Garcia bought 2,650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $19.00 per share, with a total value of $50,350.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 10,198 shares in the company, valued at approximately $193,762. This trade represents a 35.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,382 shares of company stock valued at $985,035 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on PLAB. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on 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 Photronics in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Photronics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th.

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.