Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Takes Position in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 16,497 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $389,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Photronics by 0.4% during the 3rd 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 raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 85,160 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Photronics by 4.2% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Photronics by 6.7% during the 3rd 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 raised its holdings in Photronics by 1.7% during the 3rd 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. 88.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Photronics Trading Down 3.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ PLAB opened at $20.93 on Tuesday. Photronics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.61 and a 12 month high of $31.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of 10.01 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.73.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.05. Photronics had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 9.10%. 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 prior year, the business earned $0.48 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Han Kyung Park sold 11,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.80, for a total value of $267,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 102,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,439,500. This trade represents a 9.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 20,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 524,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 ninety days, insiders sold 209,000 shares of company stock worth $5,087,810. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.