Heartland Advisors Inc. Has $12.33 Million Stake in Photronics, Inc. $PLAB

Heartland Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) by 21.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 385,150 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 104,925 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned 0.65% of Photronics worth $12,325,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Photronics during the 4th quarter valued at about $960,000. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of Photronics by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,883,463 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $92,271,000 after acquiring an additional 370,489 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Photronics by 33.2% in the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 313,404 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $10,029,000 after buying an additional 78,166 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its holdings in Photronics by 41.3% in the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 285,261 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,128,000 after buying an additional 83,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Photronics by 699.0% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,305,610 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $52,914,000 after buying an additional 2,017,052 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PLAB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Lake Street Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Photronics in a report on Friday, May 1st. Craig Hallum reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Photronics in a report on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Photronics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. Zacks Research lowered Photronics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Photronics from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.33.

Insider Activity at Photronics

In other news, Director Kang Jyh Lee sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.92, for a total transaction of $918,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 355,850 shares in the company, valued at $16,340,632. The trade was a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Rui Zhang sold 4,556 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.70, for a total value of $212,765.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 27,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,264,589.30. The trade was a 14.40% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 346,144 shares of company stock valued at $15,061,759 over the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Photronics Stock Performance

Photronics stock opened at $28.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.45 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s fifty day moving average is $44.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.81. Photronics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.00 and a 52 week high of $56.00.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $209.94 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.47 million. Photronics had a return on equity of 7.69% and a net margin of 18.47%.Photronics’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. Photronics has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.390-0.450 EPS.

Photronics Profile

Photronics, Inc is a leading global supplier of photomask products used in the manufacture of integrated circuits, flat panel displays, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and advanced packaging applications. Photomasks, also known as reticles, are critical templates that carry the precise circuit patterns required for semiconductor lithography processes. The company offers a comprehensive range of mask solutions, including binary masks, attenuated phase-shift masks, reticles for micro-optics, and specialized products for high‐resolution applications.

Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Brookfield, Connecticut, Photronics has grown through organic expansion and strategic investments in high‐end lithography technology.