Skylands Capital LLC Boosts Stake in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Skylands Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) by 15.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 189,800 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 25,300 shares during the quarter. Skylands Capital LLC owned approximately 0.30% of Photronics worth $3,940,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Photronics by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,007,582 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $23,739,000 after purchasing an additional 40,579 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Photronics by 1,761.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 64,169 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,332,000 after purchasing an additional 60,721 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Photronics by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,868,889 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $138,271,000 after purchasing an additional 29,681 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Photronics during the 4th quarter worth $398,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in shares of Photronics by 121.9% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 24,050 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $567,000 after purchasing an additional 13,214 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Photronics

In related news, Director Kang Jyh Lee sold 4,882 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.35, for a total value of $89,584.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 532,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,764,035. This represents a 0.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Walter M. Fiederowicz sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total value of $95,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,548 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $470,339.68. This represents a 16.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,430 shares of company stock worth $541,377. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PLAB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Photronics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Craig Hallum initiated coverage on Photronics in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Photronics from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th.

Photronics Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of PLAB stock traded down $0.29 on Friday, reaching $18.74. 1,060,183 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 551,312. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.76 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $18.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.91. Photronics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.46 and a 1-year high of $31.60.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $210.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.00 million. Photronics had a return on equity of 8.54% and a net margin of 14.00%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.