Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 26,507 Shares of Photronics, Inc. $PLAB

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,888,042 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,507 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 3.14% of Photronics worth $35,555,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PLAB. Byrne Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Photronics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Photronics during the first quarter valued at approximately $98,000. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Photronics by 36.1% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,755 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,793 shares in the last quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Photronics by 19.2% in the 2nd quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,513 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 1,856 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Photronics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $227,000. Institutional investors own 88.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Photronics in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised Photronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Singular Research raised Photronics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Photronics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.00.

Photronics Stock Performance

PLAB stock opened at $22.71 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.90 and a beta of 1.55. The business’s 50-day moving average is $23.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.21. Photronics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.46 and a fifty-two week high of $31.60.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The semiconductor company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.12. Photronics had a return on equity of 8.19% and a net margin of 12.67%.The business had revenue of $210.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Photronics

In other news, EVP Christopher J. Progler sold 10,000 shares of Photronics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.93, for a total transaction of $219,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 200,591 shares in the company, valued at $4,398,960.63. This trade represents a 4.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Paladino sold 42,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.00, for a total transaction of $1,026,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 33,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $811,152. The trade was a 55.85% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 82,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,953,800 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.