Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Cuts Stock Position in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC trimmed its stake in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) by 12.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 185,717 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 27,066 shares during the quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC owned about 0.29% of Photronics worth $3,855,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Photronics by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,868,889 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $138,271,000 after purchasing an additional 29,681 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Photronics by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,120,319 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $49,955,000 after purchasing an additional 257,373 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Photronics by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,018,887 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $47,565,000 after purchasing an additional 159,245 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Photronics by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,775,402 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $41,837,000 after purchasing an additional 30,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 41,487 shares in the last quarter. 88.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Photronics Stock Down 0.9%

PLAB traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $19.32. 475,976 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 557,986. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of 10.06 and a beta of 1.40. The company's 50-day moving average is $19.12 and its 200 day moving average is $20.35. Photronics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.46 and a 52 week high of $31.60.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) 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 return on equity of 8.54% and a net margin of 14.00%. The company's revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on PLAB. 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 assumed coverage on shares of Photronics in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Photronics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mitchell G. Tyson sold 15,000 shares of Photronics stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.97, for a total transaction of $299,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 56,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,136,832.19. This trade represents a 20.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David A. Garcia bought 2,650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $19.00 per share, with a total value of $50,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,198 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $193,762. The trade was a 35.11% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,382 shares of company stock valued at $985,035 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

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.