Insider Selling: Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) Director Sells 19,750 Shares of Stock

Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) Director Adam M. Lewis sold 19,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.11, for a total transaction of $476,172.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $536,447.50. This trade represents a 47.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Photronics Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ PLAB opened at $24.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 1.41. Photronics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.25 and a 1-year high of $34.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $24.59 and a 200-day moving average of $24.45.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PLAB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Photronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 28th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Photronics from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Photronics

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Photronics by 2.9% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 31,900 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $787,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Photronics by 0.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 511,962 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $12,630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,289 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Photronics by 21.9% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 171,743 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,237,000 after purchasing an additional 30,888 shares during the period. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd bought a new position in Photronics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Photronics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.