Verition Fund Management LLC Makes New Investment in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 11,801 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $292,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Photronics by 17.2% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,482,856 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $61,252,000 after buying an additional 364,150 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of Photronics by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,990,046 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $49,094,000 after acquiring an additional 275,082 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Photronics by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,684,647 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $41,560,000 after acquiring an additional 191,809 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Photronics by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 967,003 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $23,943,000 after purchasing an additional 32,977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in Photronics by 1.7% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 746,606 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $18,486,000 after purchasing an additional 12,603 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.38% of the company’s stock.

Photronics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PLAB opened at $26.49 on Friday. Photronics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.25 and a fifty-two week high of $34.16. The company has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of 12.67 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.54.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Photronics from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com raised Photronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 28th.

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.