Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Takes $322,000 Position in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new stake in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 13,659 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $322,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PLAB. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Photronics by 4.2% in the fourth 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 period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Photronics in the 4th quarter worth about $298,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Photronics by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 376,726 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $8,876,000 after purchasing an additional 44,602 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Photronics by 0.5% during the 4th 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. Finally, Four Tree Island Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Photronics during the fourth quarter worth $3,472,000. 88.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Photronics

In related news, Director Walter M. Fiederowicz sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.88, for a total transaction of $132,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $331,306.24. The trade was a 28.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.90, for a total transaction of $209,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 552,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,538,890. This trade represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,548 shares of company stock worth $1,093,093. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Photronics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PLAB traded down $0.07 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $20.32. 26,659 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 530,067. Photronics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.46 and a 12-month high of $31.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of 9.72 and a beta of 1.43. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $19.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.16.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $212.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $210.00 million. Photronics had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 15.07%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.48 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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.