Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) Shares Purchased by LSV Asset Management

LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,224,519 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 104,200 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management owned approximately 3.50% of Photronics worth $46,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Photronics by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,868,889 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $138,271,000 after buying an additional 29,681 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Photronics by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,775,402 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $41,837,000 after purchasing an additional 30,237 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Photronics by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,044,868 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $24,617,000 after acquiring an additional 41,487 shares in the last quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Photronics by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 770,000 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $18,141,000 after purchasing an additional 7,500 shares during the period. Finally, Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Photronics by 14.8% during the first quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 475,488 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $9,871,000 after purchasing an additional 61,294 shares during the period. 88.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Photronics

In other Photronics news, Director Constantine S. Macricostas sold 29,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.20, for a total transaction of $595,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 459,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,284,384.60. This represents a 6.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mitchell G. Tyson sold 15,000 shares of Photronics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.97, for a total value of $299,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 56,927 shares in the company, valued at $1,136,832.19. This represents a 20.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,382 shares of company stock valued at $985,035 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Photronics Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:PLAB traded down $0.01 during trading on Thursday, hitting $19.68. 147,446 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 630,571. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $19.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.04. Photronics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.46 and a 52-week high of $31.60. The company has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.25 and a beta of 1.40.

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). Photronics had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 8.54%. The firm had revenue of $210.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $212.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.