Nuveen LLC Makes New Investment in Photronics, Inc. $PLAB

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC has acquired a new stake in Photronics, Inc., purchasing 166,757 shares valued at approximately $3.46 million, which represents about 0.26% of the company.
• Photronics reported a net margin of 14% and earnings per share of $0.51 for the last quarter, which exceeded analyst expectations of $0.39.
• Institutional investors currently own 88.38% of Photronics, indicating a strong interest from large financial entities in the semiconductor market.

Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 166,757 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $3,462,000. Nuveen LLC owned approximately 0.26% of Photronics at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Photronics in the fourth quarter valued at $66,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Photronics in the fourth quarter valued at about $110,000. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Photronics by 36.1% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,755 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,793 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Photronics in the fourth quarter valued at about $218,000. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co raised its position in shares of Photronics by 11.9% in the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 9,400 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. 88.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PLAB shares. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Photronics from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Photronics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Craig Hallum started coverage on shares of Photronics in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $31.00.

Photronics Stock Performance

PLAB traded down $0.65 on Tuesday, reaching $22.02. The company had a trading volume of 565,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 577,770. The company has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.51 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.84.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Photronics

In other news, Director Mitchell G. Tyson sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.97, for a total transaction of $299,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kang Jyh Lee sold 4,882 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.35, for a total transaction of $89,584.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 532,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,764,035. This represents a 0.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,382 shares of company stock worth $985,035 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company 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.