Hodges Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) by 38.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 210,975 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 58,590 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. owned 0.33% of Photronics worth $4,970,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of Photronics by 137.2% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,212 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Photronics by 65.4% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,434 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Photronics by 65.8% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,932 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Photronics by 76.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,467 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 1,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Photronics during the third quarter valued at approximately $112,000. Institutional investors own 88.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christopher J. Progler sold 63,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.85, for a total value of $1,565,550.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 219,166 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,446,275.10. The trade was a 22.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 8,750 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were 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 $13,959,240. The trade was a 1.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 199,000 shares of company stock worth $4,878,810 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, DA Davidson boosted 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

Shares of Photronics stock traded up $0.04 on Thursday, hitting $22.89. 379,473 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 466,328. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.05. Photronics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.25 and a 1 year high of $34.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a PE ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 1.37.

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