Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Takes Position in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,212 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $320,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PLAB. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Photronics by 201.5% during the 2nd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,022 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 683 shares during the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Photronics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Photronics by 49.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,761 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Photronics by 587.5% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,427 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 2,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in Photronics by 77.5% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,798 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,222 shares during the period. 88.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Photronics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd.

Photronics Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ PLAB opened at $25.32 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $28.87 and its 200 day moving average is $26.38. Photronics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.86 and a 52 week high of $34.16. The company has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.35 and a beta of 1.40.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The semiconductor company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $216.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $220.00 million. Photronics had a net margin of 15.34% and a return on equity of 10.37%. Photronics’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.15 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.