Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) Shares Purchased by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) by 40.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 82,970 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 23,700 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.13% of Photronics worth $1,722,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Photronics by 1,761.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 64,169 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,332,000 after purchasing an additional 60,721 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Photronics by 0.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Photronics by 22.9% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Photronics by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,775,402 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $41,837,000 after buying an additional 30,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Skylands Capital LLC raised its stake in Photronics by 15.4% in the first quarter. Skylands Capital LLC now owns 189,800 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $3,940,000 after buying an additional 25,300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.38% of the company's stock.

Photronics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PLAB traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $19.72. The stock had a trading volume of 378,315 shares, compared to its average volume of 491,274. The company has a 50 day moving average of $19.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.24. Photronics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.46 and a twelve month high of $31.60. The firm has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of 10.27 and a beta of 1.40.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.08). Photronics had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 8.54%. The business had revenue of $210.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $212.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. Photronics's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 Kang Jyh Lee sold 4,882 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.35, for a total transaction of $89,584.70. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mitchell G. Tyson sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.97, for a total transaction of $299,550.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 56,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,136,832.19. The trade was a 20.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,382 shares of company stock valued at $985,035 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PLAB shares. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Photronics from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Craig Hallum began coverage on Photronics in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Photronics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th.

Photronics Company 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.