LSV Asset Management Acquires 104,200 Shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

LSV Asset Management grew its stake in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) by 4.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,224,519 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 104,200 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management owned 3.50% of Photronics worth $46,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Photronics by 1,761.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 64,169 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,332,000 after buying an additional 60,721 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Photronics by 0.5% during the 4th 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 period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Photronics by 22.9% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 28,982 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $602,000 after buying an additional 5,391 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Photronics by 50.9% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 57,417 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,192,000 after acquiring an additional 19,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Photronics by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,775,402 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $41,837,000 after acquiring an additional 30,237 shares in the last quarter. 88.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mitchell G. Tyson sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David A. Garcia purchased 2,650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $19.00 per share, with a total value of $50,350.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 10,198 shares of the company's stock, valued at $193,762. This represents a 35.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,382 shares of company stock worth $985,035 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Photronics Price Performance

PLAB stock traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $19.74. 511,944 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 551,167. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $19.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.04. Photronics, Inc. has a one year low of $16.46 and a one year high of $31.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.28 and a beta of 1.40.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 8.54% and a net margin of 14.00%. The company had revenue of $210.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PLAB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson lowered their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Photronics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. 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 target price for the company.

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.