Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) Shares Sold by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its holdings in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 167,856 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 26,984 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.27% of Photronics worth $4,156,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Photronics by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 87,932 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,169,000 after buying an additional 2,951 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Photronics by 70.0% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 196,395 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,845,000 after buying an additional 80,900 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in Photronics by 150.4% in the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 31,771 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $784,000 after buying an additional 19,084 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Photronics in the second quarter valued at $446,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Photronics by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,482,856 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $61,252,000 after purchasing an additional 364,150 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Photronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 28th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Photronics from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Photronics Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ PLAB opened at $24.57 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $24.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.32. Photronics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.25 and a 1-year high of $34.16. The company has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 1.39.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Photronics news, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 20,000 shares of Photronics stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.27, for a total value of $505,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 524,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,256,642. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Walter M. Fiederowicz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total value of $240,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,200,500. The trade was a 16.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 190,250 shares of company stock valued at $4,665,310. 3.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.