Proficio Capital Partners LLC Invests $398,000 in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 16,893 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $398,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Photronics by 28.3% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 23,196 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $574,000 after acquiring an additional 5,120 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Photronics by 6.7% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 93,844 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,324,000 after purchasing an additional 5,912 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Photronics by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 967,003 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $23,943,000 after purchasing an additional 32,977 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Photronics by 39.0% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 59,182 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after purchasing an additional 16,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Photronics by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 135,208 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,348,000 after buying an additional 35,825 shares during the period. 88.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.10, for a total transaction of $421,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 510,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,311,485. This trade represents a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 value of $277,087.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 118,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,906,340. This trade represents a 8.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 67,500 shares of company stock worth $1,612,838 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, DA Davidson increased their target price on 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

PLAB opened at $21.56 on Wednesday. Photronics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.61 and a 1 year high of $31.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $22.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.51. The company has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a PE ratio of 10.32 and a beta of 1.43.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.48 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current 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.