NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan Invests $251,000 in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan purchased a new stake in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $251,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PLAB. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Photronics by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 38,499 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,208,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Photronics by 571.3% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,054 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC increased its position in Photronics by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 6,125 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $192,000 after acquiring an additional 1,053 shares in the last quarter. LVZ Inc. increased its position in Photronics by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. LVZ Inc. now owns 12,657 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,331 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Photronics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Photronics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd.

Photronics Stock Performance

Shares of Photronics stock traded up $0.52 on Friday, reaching $28.28. 233,589 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 550,262. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $28.39 and its 200-day moving average is $26.48. The firm has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a PE ratio of 12.67 and a beta of 1.40. Photronics, Inc. has a one year low of $13.86 and a one year high of $34.16.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The semiconductor company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $216.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $220.00 million. Photronics had a net margin of 15.34% and a return on equity of 10.37%. The company’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.40 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal 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.