Photronics, Inc. $PLAB Position Boosted by Public Sector Pension Investment Board

Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) by 27.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 200,835 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 43,029 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned approximately 0.32% of Photronics worth $4,169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Photronics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Photronics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Photronics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $101,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Photronics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 1,793 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.38% of the company's stock.

Photronics Trading Up 5.6%

NASDAQ:PLAB traded up $1.1650 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $22.0550. The company had a trading volume of 118,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 615,098. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.49 and a beta of 1.40. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $19.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.85. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $210.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $212.00 million. Photronics had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 8.54%. 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 firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. Photronics has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.350-0.410 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on Photronics in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen cut Photronics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their target price on Photronics from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 sale, the director owned 56,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,136,832.19. This represents a 20.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kang Jyh Lee sold 4,882 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.35, for a total value of $89,584.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 532,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,764,035. The trade was a 0.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,382 shares of company stock worth $985,035. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

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.