Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Purchases 19,375 Shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Key Points

• Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Photronics, Inc. by 50.9%, acquiring a total of 57,417 shares valued at approximately $1.19 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Directors at Photronics sold significant shares recently, including Kang Jyh Lee and Constantine S. Macricostas, decreasing their positions by 0.91% and 6.03%, respectively.
• Photronics stock has dropped by 2.8% during recent trading, currently at $19.79, after the company reported a miss on earnings estimates for the last quarter.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) by 50.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 57,417 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 19,375 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.09% of Photronics worth $1,192,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Photronics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,787,000. LSV Asset Management grew its position in Photronics by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,120,319 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $49,955,000 after acquiring an additional 257,373 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Photronics by 118.8% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 367,346 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $8,655,000 after acquiring an additional 199,490 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Photronics by 823.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 183,585 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $4,325,000 after acquiring an additional 163,697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Photronics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,419,000. 88.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on shares of Photronics in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Photronics from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Photronics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th.

Photronics Stock Performance

PLAB stock traded down $0.05 on Tuesday, reaching $19.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 130,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 632,466. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.04. Photronics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.46 and a 12-month high of $31.60. The firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of 10.39 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Photronics news, Director Kang Jyh Lee sold 4,882 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 532,100 shares in the company, valued at $9,764,035. This represents a 0.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mitchell G. Tyson sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.97, for a total value of $299,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 56,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,136,832.19. The trade was a 20.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,382 shares of company stock valued at $985,035. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

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.