Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC Purchases 12,430 Shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) by 30.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 53,419 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 12,430 shares during the period. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC owned 0.08% of Photronics worth $1,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Photronics by 216.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 762 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Photronics by 65.6% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,283 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 904 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Photronics by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,448 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Photronics by 76.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,467 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 1,506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Photronics during the fourth quarter worth $110,000. 88.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Han Kyung Park sold 11,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.63, for a total transaction of $277,087.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 118,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,906,340. The trade was a 8.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.10, for a total value of $421,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 510,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,311,485. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 77,500 shares of company stock worth $1,829,138. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Photronics Price Performance

NASDAQ PLAB opened at $21.68 on Thursday. Photronics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.61 and a 1-year high of $31.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a PE ratio of 10.37 and a beta of 1.43.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.05. The firm 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 last year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.