Needham Investment Management LLC Has $15.57 Million Stock Position in Photronics, Inc. $PLAB

Key Points

• Needham Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Photronics, Inc. by 2.6% in Q1, owning 750,000 shares valued at approximately $15.57 million by the end of the quarter.
• Institutional investors collectively hold 88.38% of Photronics' shares, with Vanguard Group being the largest, having increased its position to over $122 million during the same period.
• Photronics reported earnings of $0.51 per share, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.39, and anticipates 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Needham Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 750,000 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 20,000 shares during the quarter. Photronics accounts for approximately 1.5% of Needham Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Needham Investment Management LLC owned approximately 1.18% of Photronics worth $15,570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Photronics by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,907,219 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $122,634,000 after buying an additional 38,330 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Photronics by 4.9% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,224,519 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $46,181,000 after buying an additional 104,200 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Photronics by 8.8% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,196,267 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $45,595,000 after buying an additional 177,380 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Photronics by 12.1% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,258,714 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $26,131,000 after buying an additional 135,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Photronics by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,044,868 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $24,617,000 after buying an additional 41,487 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.38% of the company's stock.

Photronics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PLAB traded up $0.54 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $22.55. 170,484 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 635,076. Photronics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.46 and a 1-year high of $31.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 1.53. The company's 50-day moving average price is $20.78 and its 200-day moving average price 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.12. Photronics had a return on equity of 8.19% and a net margin of 12.67%.The business had revenue of $210.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $204.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. The firm's revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Photronics has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.420-0.480 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PLAB. Wall Street Zen downgraded Photronics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Photronics from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Craig Hallum initiated coverage on Photronics in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Singular Research raised Photronics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $31.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Photronics

In other Photronics news, Director Mitchell G. Tyson sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This represents a 20.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Constantine S. Macricostas sold 29,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.20, for a total value of $595,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 459,623 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,284,384.60. This trade represents a 6.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 74,382 shares of company stock worth $1,534,335 in the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.