Magnetar Financial LLC Invests $456,000 in Photronics, Inc. $PLAB

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC has invested $456,000 in Photronics, Inc., acquiring 21,971 shares in the semiconductor company during the first quarter.
• Multiple institutional investors have increased their stakes in Photronics, with over 88% of the stock owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• Photronics reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.51, which exceeded analysts' expectations, and projected a Q4 2025 EPS guidance of 0.420-0.480.

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 21,971 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $456,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in Photronics during the 1st quarter valued at about $98,000. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Photronics during the first quarter worth $1,050,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Photronics by 6.2% in the first quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 575,450 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $11,946,000 after acquiring an additional 33,490 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in Photronics by 21.6% during the first quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 29,243 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $607,000 after acquiring an additional 5,193 shares during the period. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its position in shares of Photronics by 1.6% in the first quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 97,138 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,017,000 after buying an additional 1,483 shares during the period. 88.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Photronics news, Director Kang Jyh Lee sold 4,882 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.35, for a total value of $89,584.70. Following the transaction, the director owned 532,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,764,035. The trade was a 0.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Constantine S. Macricostas sold 29,500 shares of Photronics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.20, for a total transaction of $595,900.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 459,623 shares in the company, valued at $9,284,384.60. The trade was a 6.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,382 shares of company stock worth $985,035 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Photronics Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ PLAB traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $21.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,771,418 shares, compared to its average volume of 577,770. The company has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.40 and a beta of 1.53. Photronics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.46 and a 52 week high of $31.60. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $20.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.85.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 27th. The semiconductor company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.12. Photronics had a net margin of 12.67% and a return on equity of 8.19%. The firm had revenue of $210.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. Photronics has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.420-0.480 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PLAB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on Photronics in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $32.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Photronics from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Photronics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $31.00.

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.