Marshall Wace LLP Buys Shares of 29,084 Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 29,084 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $685,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PLAB. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Photronics by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,007,582 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $23,739,000 after acquiring an additional 40,579 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Photronics during the fourth quarter valued at $298,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Photronics by 13.4% during the fourth 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. lifted its holdings in Photronics by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,868,889 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $138,271,000 after purchasing an additional 29,681 shares during the period. Finally, Four Tree Island Advisory LLC bought a new position in Photronics in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,472,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Photronics

In other Photronics news, Director Walter M. Fiederowicz sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.88, for a total transaction of $132,160.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 17,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $331,306.24. The trade was a 28.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.90, for a total transaction of $209,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 552,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,538,890. The trade was a 1.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,548 shares of company stock valued at $1,093,093 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Photronics Trading Up 0.8 %

PLAB stock opened at $18.42 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $19.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.48. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.81 and a beta of 1.40. Photronics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.46 and a 52 week high of $31.60.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.05. Photronics had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 15.07%. The firm had revenue of $212.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $210.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.48 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict 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.