Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Acquires 54,000 Shares of Photronics, Inc. $PLAB

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its stake in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) by 37.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 199,100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 54,000 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.33% of Photronics worth $3,749,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Photronics by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,907,219 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $122,634,000 after acquiring an additional 38,330 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its position in Photronics by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,224,519 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $46,181,000 after purchasing an additional 104,200 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Photronics by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,196,267 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $45,595,000 after purchasing an additional 177,380 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Photronics by 1.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,888,042 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,555,000 after buying an additional 26,507 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Photronics by 12.1% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,258,714 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $26,131,000 after buying an additional 135,859 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on PLAB. Singular Research raised shares of Photronics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Zacks Research downgraded Photronics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Wall Street Zen raised Photronics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Photronics in a report on Friday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Photronics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.00.

Photronics Stock Performance

Photronics stock opened at $21.06 on Friday. Photronics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.46 and a fifty-two week high of $31.60. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.14. The stock has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of 11.97 and a beta of 1.55.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The semiconductor company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $210.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $204.30 million. Photronics had a net margin of 12.67% and a return on equity of 8.19%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. Photronics has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.420-0.480 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Photronics news, Director Kang Jyh Lee sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.33, for a total value of $253,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 513,350 shares in the company, valued at $13,003,155.50. This represents a 1.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.93, for a total value of $219,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 200,591 shares in the company, valued at $4,398,960.63. The trade was a 4.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 82,750 shares of company stock valued at $1,953,800. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.