Trexquant Investment LP Buys 66,633 Shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Trexquant Investment LP boosted its position in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) by 61.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 175,371 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 66,633 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned 0.28% of Photronics worth $4,132,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PLAB. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Photronics by 216.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,114 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 762 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in Photronics by 65.6% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,283 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 904 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Photronics by 17.6% during the fourth 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. KBC Group NV lifted 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 acquiring an additional 1,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Photronics in the 4th quarter valued at $110,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.38% of the company’s stock.

Photronics Price Performance

PLAB opened at $17.51 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.34. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.38 and a beta of 1.43. Photronics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.78 and a 1 year high of $31.60.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $212.14 million during 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $0.48 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Photronics

In related news, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 10,000 shares of Photronics stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.02, for a total transaction of $250,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 580,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,532,867. This trade represents a 1.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Walter M. Fiederowicz sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.16, for a total transaction of $95,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,548 shares in the company, valued at $470,339.68. The trade was a 16.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,261,888 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.