American Century Companies Inc. Buys 159,245 Shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,018,887 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 159,245 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 3.19% of Photronics worth $47,565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. M&T Bank Corp bought a new position in Photronics in the third quarter valued at about $252,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Photronics by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,745,165 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $43,217,000 after purchasing an additional 85,160 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 35,825 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Photronics by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,007,582 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $23,739,000 after purchasing an additional 40,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Photronics during the fourth quarter worth $298,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.38% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, DA Davidson increased their price target on Photronics from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th.

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Photronics Stock Performance

Shares of Photronics stock traded down $0.38 on Tuesday, hitting $20.38. The stock had a trading volume of 525,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 483,087. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $21.79 and a 200 day moving average of $23.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 1.43. Photronics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.61 and a twelve month high of $31.60.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $212.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $210.00 million. Photronics had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 9.10%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.48 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 8,750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total transaction of $213,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 572,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,959,240. This represents a 1.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Han Kyung Park sold 11,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,906,340. The trade was a 8.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 77,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,829,138. Company insiders own 3.20% 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.