Four Tree Island Advisory LLC Makes New $3.47 Million Investment in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Four Tree Island Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 147,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,472,000. Photronics accounts for 2.4% of Four Tree Island Advisory LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Four Tree Island Advisory LLC owned 0.23% of Photronics at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Photronics by 297.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 114,133 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,826,000 after buying an additional 85,397 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Photronics by 5.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,745,165 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $43,217,000 after acquiring an additional 85,160 shares during the period. Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Photronics by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 411,188 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $10,181,000 after acquiring an additional 62,201 shares in the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Photronics by 38.4% during the 4th quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 210,975 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,970,000 after purchasing an additional 58,590 shares during the period. Finally, Needham Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Photronics by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 762,500 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $18,880,000 after purchasing an additional 48,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Photronics news, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 8,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.40, for a total value of $213,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 572,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,959,240. This trade represents a 1.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher J. Progler sold 63,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.85, for a total transaction of $1,565,550.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 219,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,446,275.10. This trade represents a 22.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 199,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,878,810. 3.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Photronics Price Performance

Shares of PLAB stock opened at $22.52 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $24.19 and its 200 day moving average is $23.98. Photronics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.25 and a 1-year high of $34.16. The company has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.78 and a beta of 1.37.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 11th. The semiconductor company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $222.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $218.00 million. Photronics had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 9.10%. The company’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.