EMC Capital Management Lowers Stake in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

EMC Capital Management reduced its position in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) by 31.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,069 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 4,984 shares during the quarter. EMC Capital Management’s holdings in Photronics were worth $261,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PLAB. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Photronics by 297.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 114,133 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 85,397 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Photronics by 5.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,745,165 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $43,217,000 after buying an additional 85,160 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Photronics during the second quarter worth $1,603,000. Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Photronics by 17.8% during the third quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 411,188 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $10,181,000 after buying an additional 62,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Photronics by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 336,745 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,307,000 after acquiring an additional 58,080 shares during the last quarter. 88.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Transactions at Photronics

In related news, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 8,750 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 572,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,959,240. This trade represents a 1.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Han Kyung Park sold 11,250 shares of Photronics stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 102,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,439,500. The trade was a 9.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 199,000 shares of company stock worth $4,878,810 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.88% of the company’s stock.

Photronics Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of PLAB stock traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $22.99. 5,424 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 451,129. The company has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $24.50 and a 200 day moving average of $24.20. Photronics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.25 and a 52-week high of $34.16.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 11th. The semiconductor company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $222.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $218.00 million. Photronics had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 9.10%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Photronics 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.