Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) Hits New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $18.33 and last traded at $18.44, with a volume of 374539 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.52.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Photronics Stock Down 3.6 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.35. The stock has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.38 and a beta of 1.43.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 10,000 shares of Photronics stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.02, for a total value of $250,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 580,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,532,867. This trade represents a 1.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Walter M. Fiederowicz sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total value of $95,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,339.68. The trade was a 16.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,261,888 in the last three months. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Photronics

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of PLAB. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Photronics by 3.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 967,003 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $23,943,000 after acquiring an additional 32,977 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Photronics by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 135,208 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,348,000 after purchasing an additional 35,825 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Photronics by 53.5% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 49,077 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 17,113 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Photronics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $292,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in Photronics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $302,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.38% 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.