Kovack Advisors Inc. Purchases New Position in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Kovack Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 24,400 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $575,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Photronics in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,319,000. Skylands Capital LLC raised its position in Photronics by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. Skylands Capital LLC now owns 164,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,876,000 after purchasing an additional 55,500 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in Photronics in the 4th quarter worth about $1,227,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in Photronics by 45.7% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 59,270 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 18,600 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in Photronics by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 81,283 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,874,000 after purchasing an additional 7,933 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Photronics Price Performance

Photronics stock opened at $20.84 on Friday. Photronics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.25 and a 1-year high of $31.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.97 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50-day moving average is $23.11 and its 200 day moving average is $23.84.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $212.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $210.00 million. Photronics had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 9.10%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.48 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Photronics

In other news, SVP Han Kyung Park sold 11,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.80, for a total transaction of $267,750.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 102,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,439,500. This trade represents a 9.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 8,750 shares of Photronics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total transaction of $213,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 572,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,959,240. The trade was a 1.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 199,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,878,810. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.