Man Group plc Sells 15,216 Shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Man Group plc lowered its position in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 269,307 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 15,216 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned about 0.43% of Photronics worth $6,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PLAB. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Photronics during the fourth quarter valued at $7,787,000. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in Photronics by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,120,319 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $49,955,000 after acquiring an additional 257,373 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in Photronics by 45.3% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 799,439 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $18,893,000 after acquiring an additional 249,222 shares during the last quarter. Kestrel Investment Management Corp bought a new stake in Photronics during the fourth quarter valued at $5,163,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Photronics by 118.8% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 367,346 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $8,655,000 after acquiring an additional 199,490 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.38% of the company’s stock.

Photronics Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of PLAB opened at $20.43 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.78 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.15. Photronics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.46 and a 12 month high of $31.60.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The semiconductor company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $212.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $210.00 million. Photronics had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 9.10%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Photronics news, Director Walter M. Fiederowicz sold 7,548 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.87, for a total value of $134,882.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $178,700. This trade represents a 43.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kang Jyh Lee sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.60, for a total transaction of $216,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 542,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,709,360. This trade represents a 1.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,548 shares of company stock worth $1,093,093 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

About Photronics

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.