Kovack Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Kovack Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,750 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Photronics were worth $871,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PLAB. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Photronics by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,321,531 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $107,548,000 after purchasing an additional 186,718 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Photronics by 88.3% in the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,560,215 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $31,532,000 after purchasing an additional 731,793 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Photronics by 64.4% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,397,983 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $43,855,000 after purchasing an additional 547,510 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Photronics by 0.4% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,115,690 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $22,548,000 after acquiring an additional 4,222 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Photronics by 18.3% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,029,747 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $20,811,000 after acquiring an additional 159,393 shares during the period. 88.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Photronics Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ PLAB opened at $28.28 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.68 and a beta of 1.40. Photronics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.86 and a 52 week high of $34.16.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The semiconductor company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $216.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.00 million. Photronics had a net margin of 15.34% and a return on equity of 10.37%. Photronics’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Photronics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd.

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.