Illumine Investment Management LLC Takes $650,000 Position in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Illumine Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 27,585 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $650,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Photronics by 137.2% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,212 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 701 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Photronics by 65.4% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,434 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 904 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake 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. 88.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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 report on Thursday, December 12th.

Photronics Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of PLAB opened at $20.59 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.85 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.85. Photronics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.25 and a 12 month high of $31.60.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $212.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $210.00 million. Photronics had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 15.07%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.48 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Photronics

In other news, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 20,000 shares of Photronics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.27, for a total transaction of $505,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 524,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,256,642. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher J. Progler sold 63,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.85, for a total value of $1,565,550.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 219,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,446,275.10. This trade represents a 22.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 199,000 shares of company stock worth $4,878,810. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.