Bridge City Capital LLC Increases Stock Position in Photronics, Inc. $PLAB

Bridge City Capital LLC increased its stake in Photronics, Inc. by 54% in Q2, owning 137,421 shares worth $2.59 million. Other investors also adjusted their positions. Insider sales included 67,750 shares worth $1.63 million. Analysts have mixed ratings on Photronics, with a moderate buy consensus and a $31 price target. Photronics manufactures photomask products for integrated circuits and flat panel displays globally.

Bridge City Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB - Free Report) by 54.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 137,421 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 48,188 shares during the quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC owned approximately 0.23% of Photronics worth $2,588,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Photronics during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in Photronics during the first quarter worth approximately $98,000. Palouse Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Photronics by 19.2% during the second quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,513 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,856 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Photronics in the first quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Photronics in the first quarter valued at approximately $282,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.38% of the company's stock.

Photronics Trading Up 3.2%

PLAB opened at $24.24 on Thursday. Photronics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.46 and a twelve month high of $31.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a PE ratio of 13.77 and a beta of 1.54. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $22.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

Photronics Stock Setting Up Next Leg Higher

In other Photronics news, Director Mary Paladino sold 42,750 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.00, for a total value of $1,026,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 33,798 shares in the company, valued at $811,152. This represents a 55.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher J. Progler sold 10,000 shares of Photronics stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.52, for a total value of $225,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 190,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,292,109.32. This represents a 4.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 67,750 shares of company stock worth $1,629,700 in the last three months. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PLAB. Wall Street Zen upgraded Photronics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Photronics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Singular Research raised shares of Photronics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Photronics in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $31.00.

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Check Out Our Latest Report on Photronics

About Photronics

(Free Report)

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.

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