Vanguard Group Inc. Has $107.55 Million Position in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) by 3.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,321,531 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 186,718 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 8.50% of Photronics worth $107,548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates purchased a new position in shares of Photronics during the first quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Photronics by 2.1% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 61,988 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,052,000 after buying an additional 1,281 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Photronics by 53.6% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 32,418 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $550,000 after buying an additional 11,313 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its stake in shares of Photronics by 15.0% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 53,138 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $902,000 after buying an additional 6,920 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Photronics by 0.8% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,805,463 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $166,400,000 after buying an additional 78,778 shares during the period. 88.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Photronics Price Performance

NASDAQ:PLAB traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $28.21. 354,096 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 607,598. The firm has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.58 and a beta of 1.40. Photronics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.86 and a 52-week high of $34.16. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.70.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The semiconductor company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $216.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $220.00 million. Photronics had a return on equity of 10.37% and a net margin of 15.34%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Photronics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd.

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.