UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Has $1.99 Million Stock Holdings in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC cut its holdings in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) by 20.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,593 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 21,874 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned 0.13% of Photronics worth $1,993,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Photronics by 216.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 762 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Photronics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Photronics by 65.6% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,283 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 904 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Photronics by 76.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,467 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Photronics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $101,000. 88.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Photronics

In other Photronics news, Director Walter M. Fiederowicz sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.63, for a total value of $216,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $639,123.24. This represents a 25.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 44,548 shares of company stock worth $884,093. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Photronics Price Performance

PLAB stock traded up $0.22 during trading on Monday, reaching $18.33. 624,313 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 552,800. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a 50-day moving average of $18.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.57. Photronics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.46 and a twelve 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 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 company had revenue of $210.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current 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.