Pacer Advisors Inc. Reduces Stake in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) by 16.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,991,956 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 382,720 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned approximately 3.15% of Photronics worth $46,930,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Photronics by 297.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 114,133 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,826,000 after buying an additional 85,397 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Photronics by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,745,165 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $43,217,000 after acquiring an additional 85,160 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Photronics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,603,000. Easterly Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Photronics by 17.8% during the third quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 411,188 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $10,181,000 after purchasing an additional 62,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Photronics by 20.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 336,745 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $8,307,000 after purchasing an additional 58,080 shares during the period. 88.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christopher J. Progler sold 63,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 219,166 shares in the company, valued at $5,446,275.10. The trade was a 22.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 8,750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 572,100 shares in the company, valued at $13,959,240. This trade represents a 1.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 199,000 shares of company stock worth $4,878,810 over the last three months. 3.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Photronics Trading Down 0.2 %

PLAB traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $23.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 295,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 456,933. Photronics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.25 and a 1 year high of $34.16. The stock's 50-day moving average is $24.45 and its 200-day moving average is $24.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 1.39.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 11th. The semiconductor company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $222.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.00 million. Photronics had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 15.07%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Photronics Company 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.