Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) Shares Sold by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP reduced its stake in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 696,828 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 49,778 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned 1.10% of Photronics worth $16,417,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Photronics by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,368,450 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $58,643,000 after purchasing an additional 10,590 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Photronics by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,745,165 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $43,217,000 after buying an additional 85,160 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Photronics by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,007,582 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $23,739,000 after buying an additional 40,579 shares in the last quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Photronics by 6.7% during the third quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 762,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $18,880,000 after buying an additional 48,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Photronics by 4.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 530,401 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,133,000 after acquiring an additional 24,834 shares in the last quarter. 88.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Photronics Stock Performance

Photronics stock opened at $21.26 on Monday. Photronics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.61 and a 1 year high of $31.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $22.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.64. The firm has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 1.43.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.05. Photronics had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 15.07%. The company had revenue of $212.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $210.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Photronics

In related news, EVP Christopher J. Progler sold 63,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.85, for a total transaction of $1,565,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 219,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,446,275.10. This trade represents a 22.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.27, for a total transaction of $505,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 524,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,256,642. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 209,000 shares of company stock valued at $5,087,810. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Photronics 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.