Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, DA Davidson lifted their target price 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

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $21.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of 8.69 and a beta of 1.43.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $212.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $210.00 million. Photronics had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 15.07%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.48 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Photronics news, Director Walter M. Fiederowicz sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.13, for a total value of $241,300.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 32,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $772,160. This represents a 23.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 8,750 shares of Photronics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total value of $213,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 572,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,959,240. The trade was a 1.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 60,000 shares of company stock worth $1,407,388. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PLAB. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Photronics by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,868,889 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $138,271,000 after purchasing an additional 29,681 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Photronics by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,368,450 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $58,643,000 after buying an additional 10,590 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in Photronics by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,120,319 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $49,955,000 after buying an additional 257,373 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Photronics by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,018,887 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $47,565,000 after acquiring an additional 159,245 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Photronics by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,775,402 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $41,837,000 after acquiring an additional 30,237 shares in the last quarter. 88.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.