Four Tree Island Advisory LLC Makes New Investment in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Four Tree Island Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 147,351 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $3,472,000. Photronics comprises about 2.4% of Four Tree Island Advisory LLC's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC owned approximately 0.23% of Photronics as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PLAB. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Photronics by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,368,450 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $58,643,000 after purchasing an additional 10,590 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Photronics by 5.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,745,165 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $43,217,000 after purchasing an additional 85,160 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Photronics by 3.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 967,003 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $23,943,000 after purchasing an additional 32,977 shares during the period. Needham Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Photronics by 6.7% during the third quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 762,500 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $18,880,000 after purchasing an additional 48,200 shares during the period. Finally, Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in Photronics by 1.7% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 746,606 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $18,486,000 after buying an additional 12,603 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.38% of the company's stock.

Photronics Trading Up 1.2 %

PLAB stock traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $22.52. The stock had a trading volume of 306,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 456,423. The firm has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.78 and a beta of 1.37. Photronics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.25 and a 1-year high of $34.13. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $24.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.92.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 11th. The semiconductor company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.07. Photronics had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 9.10%. The business had revenue of $222.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $218.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. Photronics's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.27, for a total transaction of $505,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 524,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,256,642. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Walter M. Fiederowicz sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.01, for a total transaction of $240,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,200,500. This represents a 16.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 199,000 shares of company stock worth $4,878,810. Company insiders own 3.88% of the company's stock.

Photronics 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.