Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 19,506 Shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC cut its stake in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) by 10.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 159,008 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 19,506 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Photronics were worth $3,301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Photronics by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,007,582 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $23,739,000 after buying an additional 40,579 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Photronics by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 376,726 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $8,876,000 after purchasing an additional 44,602 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Photronics by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,868,889 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $138,271,000 after purchasing an additional 29,681 shares in the last quarter. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Photronics during the 4th quarter valued at $3,472,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in Photronics by 297.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 114,133 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 85,397 shares in the last quarter. 88.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on PLAB shares. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Photronics from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Photronics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th.

Photronics Stock Performance

Shares of Photronics stock opened at $18.33 on Tuesday. Photronics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.46 and a 52-week high of $31.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $18.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.52.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $210.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $212.00 million. Photronics had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 9.10%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Photronics

In related news, Director Walter M. Fiederowicz sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.79, for a total transaction of $88,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,950. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.60, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 542,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,360. This represents a 1.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 44,548 shares of company stock valued at $884,093 in the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.