AlphaQuest LLC Grows Stake in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) by 121.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 24,050 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,214 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Photronics were worth $567,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Photronics during the 4th quarter valued at $389,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Photronics during the 4th quarter valued at $1,206,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Photronics in the fourth quarter worth $398,000. LVZ Inc. grew its position in Photronics by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. LVZ Inc. now owns 22,807 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $537,000 after acquiring an additional 4,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Photronics by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,007,582 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $23,739,000 after acquiring an additional 40,579 shares in the last quarter. 88.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, DA Davidson upped their target price 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 Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PLAB opened at $20.83 on Thursday. Photronics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.61 and a 52-week high of $31.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $22.61 and a 200 day moving average of $23.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of 9.97 and a beta of 1.43.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $212.14 million during 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 in the previous year, the business earned $0.48 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Photronics news, Director Walter M. Fiederowicz sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total value of $240,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,200,500. The trade was a 16.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.27, for a total transaction of $505,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 524,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,256,642. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 209,000 shares of company stock valued at $5,087,810 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.