Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Acquires New Position in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA bought a new position in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,408 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Photronics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $252,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Photronics by 36.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 135,208 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,348,000 after acquiring an additional 35,825 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 40,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Photronics during the 4th quarter valued at $298,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Photronics

In other 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $132,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $331,306.24. This represents a 28.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,750 shares of company stock worth $866,760 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Photronics Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PLAB opened at $18.05 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of 8.64 and a beta of 1.40. Photronics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.46 and a 1 year high of $31.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $20.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.07.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported $0.52 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $212.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $210.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.48 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.