Insider Selling: Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) Director Sells 29,500 Shares of Stock

Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) Director Constantine S. Macricostas sold 29,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.20, for a total value of $595,900.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 459,623 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,284,384.60. The trade was a 6.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Photronics Stock Performance

NASDAQ PLAB traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $19.76. 335,035 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 553,749. The company has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.29 and a beta of 1.40. The company's 50-day moving average is $18.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.76. Photronics, Inc. has a one year low of $16.46 and a one year high of $31.60.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). Photronics had a net margin of 14.00% and a return on equity of 8.54%. The company had revenue of $210.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $212.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Photronics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 position in shares of Photronics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Photronics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Photronics in the first quarter valued at approximately $98,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Photronics in the fourth quarter worth $101,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.