Renaissance Technologies LLC Raises Stock Position in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) by 15.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 223,788 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 29,193 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 0.35% of Photronics worth $5,272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Photronics during the 3rd quarter valued at $237,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Photronics by 297.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 114,133 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,826,000 after acquiring an additional 85,397 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $43,217,000 after acquiring an additional 85,160 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Photronics by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 70,175 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,694,000 after purchasing an additional 3,217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Photronics by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,448 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. 88.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Photronics

In related news, Director Walter M. Fiederowicz sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.63, for a total transaction of $216,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $639,123.24. This represents a 25.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 44,548 shares of company stock worth $877,093 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Photronics Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of Photronics stock traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $18.02. 747,442 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 514,839. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.62 and a beta of 1.40. Photronics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.46 and a twelve month high of $31.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.74.

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. The firm had revenue of $212.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $210.00 million. Photronics had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 9.10%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.48 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.