Virtu Financial LLC Purchases New Holdings in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 12,228 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $288,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PLAB. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new position in shares of Photronics during the third quarter valued at $252,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Photronics by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,745,165 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $43,217,000 after acquiring an additional 85,160 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Photronics by 36.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 135,208 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,348,000 after purchasing an additional 35,825 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 40,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Photronics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $298,000. 88.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Photronics Trading Down 1.8 %

PLAB opened at $21.28 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $22.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.48. Photronics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.61 and a 1 year high of $31.60. The stock has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.18 and a beta of 1.43.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last announced its quarterly 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. Photronics had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 15.07%. The business had revenue of $212.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $210.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.48 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.10, for a total value of $421,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 510,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,311,485. This trade represents a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Walter M. Fiederowicz sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.63, for a total value of $216,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 29,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $639,123.24. This trade represents a 25.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 77,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,829,138 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Photronics from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th.

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.