Mackenzie Financial Corp Takes Position in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 27,852 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $656,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Photronics in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,787,000. LSV Asset Management raised its position in Photronics by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,120,319 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $49,955,000 after purchasing an additional 257,373 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Photronics by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 799,439 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $18,893,000 after buying an additional 249,222 shares during the last quarter. Kestrel Investment Management Corp bought a new position in Photronics in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,163,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Photronics by 118.8% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 367,346 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $8,655,000 after purchasing an additional 199,490 shares during the period. 88.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PLAB. Wall Street Zen lowered Photronics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Photronics from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th.

Photronics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PLAB traded down $0.33 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $17.70. 588,764 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 656,660. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $18.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.69. The company has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 8.47 and a beta of 1.43. Photronics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.46 and a 12 month high of $31.60.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $210.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.00 million. Photronics had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 9.10%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Photronics news, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.60, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 542,100 shares in the company, valued at $11,709,360. This trade represents a 1.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Walter M. Fiederowicz sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.88, for a total value of $132,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,548 shares in the company, valued at $331,306.24. This trade represents a 28.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 44,548 shares of company stock worth $884,093 over the last 90 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.