Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 29,681 Shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,868,889 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 29,681 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.27% of Photronics worth $138,271,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Photronics by 216.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 762 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in Photronics by 65.6% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,283 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 904 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Photronics by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,448 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Photronics by 76.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,467 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 1,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Photronics during the fourth quarter valued at about $110,000. 88.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Photronics

In other Photronics news, Director Walter M. Fiederowicz sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total transaction of $95,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,548 shares of the company's stock, valued at $470,339.68. The trade was a 16.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.90, for a total value of $209,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 552,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,538,890. The trade was a 1.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 40,750 shares of company stock worth $866,760. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Photronics Stock Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ PLAB traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $18.05. 570,889 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 502,373. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.64 and a beta of 1.40. Photronics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.46 and a 1 year high of $31.60. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $20.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.07.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported $0.52 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 company had revenue of $212.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $210.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.48 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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.