Two Sigma Investments LP Sells 14,225 Shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Two Sigma Investments LP lowered its stake in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) by 39.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,146 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 14,225 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP's holdings in Photronics were worth $522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PLAB. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Photronics by 4.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 40,579 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Photronics by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 376,726 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $8,876,000 after acquiring an additional 44,602 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Photronics by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,868,889 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $138,271,000 after acquiring an additional 29,681 shares during the period. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Photronics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,472,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Photronics by 297.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 114,133 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,826,000 after buying an additional 85,397 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.38% of the company's stock.

Photronics Stock Performance

NASDAQ PLAB traded up $0.28 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $18.61. The stock had a trading volume of 495,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 552,571. Photronics, Inc. has a one year low of $16.46 and a one year high of $31.60. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.90 and a beta of 1.38.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.08). Photronics had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 15.07%. The business had revenue of $210.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. Photronics's revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Photronics

In other Photronics news, Director Walter M. Fiederowicz sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 24,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,339.68. This represents a 16.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.60, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 542,100 shares in the company, valued at $11,709,360. The trade was a 1.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 44,548 shares of company stock worth $884,093. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PLAB. Wall Street Zen lowered Photronics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Photronics from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th.

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.