GAMMA Investing LLC Buys 60,721 Shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) by 1,761.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 64,169 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 60,721 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC owned 0.10% of Photronics worth $1,332,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Photronics by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 38,042 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $896,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Photronics by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 90,245 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,126,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Photronics by 216.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 762 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Photronics by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,314 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Photronics by 65.6% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,283 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 904 shares during the period. 88.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Photronics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. DA Davidson decreased their price target 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. Finally, Craig Hallum began coverage on shares of Photronics in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company.

Photronics Stock Performance

Shares of PLAB stock traded down $0.26 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $18.40. The company had a trading volume of 417,407 shares, compared to its average volume of 557,109. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.24 and a beta of 1.38. Photronics, Inc. has a one year low of $16.46 and a one year high of $31.60. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $18.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.31.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.40 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Photronics news, Director Walter M. Fiederowicz sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total transaction of $95,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,548 shares in the company, valued at $470,339.68. This represents a 16.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 10,000 shares of Photronics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.60, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 542,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,360. The trade was a 1.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 44,548 shares of company stock worth $884,093 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

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.