Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) Shares Bought by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) by 13.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 376,726 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 44,602 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Photronics were worth $8,876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PLAB. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Photronics by 297.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 114,133 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,826,000 after acquiring an additional 85,397 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Photronics by 5.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Photronics by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 411,188 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $10,181,000 after acquiring an additional 62,201 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Photronics by 38.4% during the 4th quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 210,975 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,970,000 after acquiring an additional 58,590 shares during the period. Finally, Needham Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 48,200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.38% of the company’s stock.

Photronics Stock Performance

Photronics stock opened at $22.52 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.98. Photronics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.25 and a 1 year high of $34.16. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.78 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Christopher J. Progler sold 63,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.85, for a total transaction of $1,565,550.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 219,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,446,275.10. This represents a 22.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 20,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 524,600 shares in the company, 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 90 days, insiders have sold 199,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,878,810. Corporate insiders own 3.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.