Barclays PLC Buys 85,397 Shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) by 297.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 114,133 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 85,397 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Photronics were worth $2,826,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Photronics by 17.2% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,482,856 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $61,252,000 after purchasing an additional 364,150 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Photronics by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,990,046 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $49,094,000 after buying an additional 275,082 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Photronics by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,684,647 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $41,560,000 after buying an additional 191,809 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Photronics by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 505,567 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $12,472,000 after acquiring an additional 86,938 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new position in Photronics in the 2nd quarter worth $2,112,000. 88.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Photronics Price Performance

NASDAQ:PLAB opened at $24.19 on Wednesday. Photronics, Inc. has a one year low of $20.25 and a one year high of $34.16. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $24.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.45. The stock has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 1.41.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 11th. The semiconductor company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.07. Photronics had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 9.10%. The business had revenue of $222.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PLAB shares. StockNews.com raised Photronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 28th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Photronics from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Insider Transactions at Photronics

In other Photronics news, Director Adam M. Lewis sold 19,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.11, for a total value of $476,172.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $536,447.50. The trade was a 47.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.27, for a total transaction of $505,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 524,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,256,642. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 102,750 shares of company stock valued at $2,547,123. 3.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.