Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 330,500 Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 330,500 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $7,787,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 0.52% of Photronics as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC raised its stake in Photronics by 36.0% during the third 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 in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Photronics by 53.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 49,077 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,215,000 after acquiring an additional 17,113 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in Photronics in the third quarter worth about $292,000. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Photronics during the third quarter valued at approximately $237,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Photronics by 1.5% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 136,542 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $3,381,000 after purchasing an additional 1,966 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.38% of the company's stock.

Photronics Price Performance

Shares of Photronics stock traded up $0.17 on Monday, reaching $18.22. The company had a trading volume of 10,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 501,138. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $20.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.06. Photronics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.46 and a 1 year high of $31.60. The firm has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.67 and a beta of 1.40.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $212.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 previous year, the business posted $0.48 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Photronics

In related news, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 8,750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total value of $213,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 572,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,959,240. This represents a 1.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Walter M. Fiederowicz sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.88, for a total transaction of $132,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $331,306.24. This represents a 28.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 40,750 shares of company stock worth $866,760. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.