James Investment Research Inc. Boosts Position in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

James Investment Research Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) by 84.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,587 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,549 shares during the quarter. James Investment Research Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Photronics worth $1,003,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PLAB. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Photronics by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,368,450 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $58,643,000 after buying an additional 10,590 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Photronics by 5.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,745,165 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $43,217,000 after buying an additional 85,160 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Photronics by 3.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 967,003 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $23,943,000 after buying an additional 32,977 shares during the last quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Photronics by 6.7% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in Photronics by 1.7% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 746,606 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $18,486,000 after buying an additional 12,603 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, DA Davidson increased their price target on Photronics from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christopher J. Progler sold 63,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.85, for a total value of $1,565,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 219,166 shares in the company, valued at $5,446,275.10. This trade represents a 22.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.27, for a total value of $505,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 524,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,256,642. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 199,000 shares of company stock worth $4,878,810 over the last 90 days. 3.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Photronics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PLAB opened at $22.27 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $23.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.66 and a beta of 1.37. Photronics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.25 and a 1 year high of $34.13.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 11th. The semiconductor company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.07. Photronics had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 15.07%. The firm had revenue of $222.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $218.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. Photronics’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

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.