Easterly Investment Partners LLC Reduces Position in Photronics, Inc. $PLAB

Key Points

• Easterly Investment Partners LLC has reduced its stake in Photronics, Inc. by 3.8%, currently owning about 0.76% of the company, worth approximately $8.6 million.
• Several institutional investors have entered or increased their positions in Photronics, with 88.38% of the stock now held by such entities.
• Analysts have upgraded their ratings on Photronics, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and a target price of $31.00.

Easterly Investment Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) by 3.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 457,419 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 18,069 shares during the quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC owned about 0.76% of Photronics worth $8,613,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Photronics during the second quarter worth approximately $40,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Photronics in the 1st quarter worth $98,000. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Photronics by 36.1% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,755 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,793 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Photronics during the 1st quarter valued at about $227,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Photronics in the first quarter valued at about $282,000. 88.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Photronics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Photronics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Singular Research raised shares of Photronics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Photronics in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.00.

Photronics Price Performance

NASDAQ PLAB opened at $23.39 on Friday. Photronics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.46 and a 12 month high of $31.60. The company has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 1.54. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $22.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.32.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Photronics had a return on equity of 8.19% and a net margin of 12.67%.The company had revenue of $210.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Photronics has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.420-0.480 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher J. Progler sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.93, for a total transaction of $219,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 200,591 shares in the company, valued at $4,398,960.63. This represents a 4.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kang Jyh Lee sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.33, for a total transaction of $253,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 513,350 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,003,155.50. The trade was a 1.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 82,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,953,800 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

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.

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