Kestrel Investment Management Corp Acquires Shares of 219,150 Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Kestrel Investment Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 219,150 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $5,163,000. Photronics comprises 2.8% of Kestrel Investment Management Corp's holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Kestrel Investment Management Corp owned about 0.35% of Photronics at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Photronics by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 340,600 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $8,025,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA bought a new stake in Photronics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $222,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Photronics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,787,000. Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Photronics by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 414,194 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $9,758,000 after purchasing an additional 3,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Photronics by 30.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC now owns 53,419 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 12,430 shares during the period. 88.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity

In other Photronics news, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.02, for a total value of $250,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 580,850 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,532,867. This represents a 1.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Walter M. Fiederowicz sold 5,000 shares of Photronics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total value of $95,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,548 shares in the company, valued at $470,339.68. The trade was a 16.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,261,888. Insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Photronics Trading Down 3.6 %

PLAB traded down $0.66 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $17.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 926,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 487,267. Photronics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.78 and a twelve month high of $31.60. The stock has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.38 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.35.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.05. Photronics had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 9.10%. The business had revenue of $212.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $210.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect 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.