WINTON GROUP Ltd Reduces Position in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

WINTON GROUP Ltd trimmed its stake in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) by 24.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,724 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 7,904 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Photronics were worth $582,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Photronics by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,448 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Photronics by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 90,245 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,126,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Photronics by 216.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 762 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Photronics by 65.6% during 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. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Photronics by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 57,015 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,343,000 after buying an additional 1,333 shares in the last quarter. 88.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity at Photronics

In other Photronics news, SVP Han Kyung Park sold 11,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.63, for a total transaction of $277,087.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 118,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,906,340. This trade represents a 8.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.10, for a total transaction of $421,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 510,850 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,311,485. This trade represents a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 77,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,829,138. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Photronics Price Performance

Shares of PLAB opened at $20.60 on Friday. Photronics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.61 and a 1 year high of $31.60. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.48. The firm has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.86 and a beta of 1.43.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $210.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.48 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current 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.