Vanguard Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Photronics, Inc. $PLAB

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) by 3.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,779,728 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 210,969 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.10% of Photronics worth $132,645,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PLAB. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in Photronics by 17.2% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,607,874 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $49,106,000 after acquiring an additional 383,355 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Photronics by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,306,176 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $43,425,000 after purchasing an additional 109,909 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Photronics by 1.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,888,042 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,555,000 after purchasing an additional 26,507 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Photronics by 2.9% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 826,718 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $15,706,000 after purchasing an additional 23,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Photronics by 3.7% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 435,223 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,195,000 after purchasing an additional 15,345 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Han Kyung Park sold 6,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.89, for a total transaction of $218,062.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 75,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,634,195. The trade was a 7.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kang Jyh Lee sold 10,000 shares of Photronics stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.13, for a total value of $341,300.00. Following the sale, the director owned 410,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,022,310.50. This trade represents a 2.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 171,250 shares of company stock valued at $6,091,950 over the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Photronics Stock Down 4.5%

PLAB stock opened at $35.26 on Wednesday. Photronics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.46 and a twelve month high of $45.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00 and a beta of 1.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.28.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The semiconductor company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.07. Photronics had a net margin of 15.83% and a return on equity of 7.88%. The firm had revenue of $225.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $220.09 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Photronics has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.490-0.550 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on PLAB. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Photronics in a research note on Monday, December 29th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Photronics from $30.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Craig Hallum reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Photronics in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Photronics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.50.

Photronics Profile

Photronics, Inc is a leading global supplier of photomask products used in the manufacture of integrated circuits, flat panel displays, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and advanced packaging applications. Photomasks, also known as reticles, are critical templates that carry the precise circuit patterns required for semiconductor lithography processes. The company offers a comprehensive range of mask solutions, including binary masks, attenuated phase-shift masks, reticles for micro-optics, and specialized products for high‐resolution applications.

Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Brookfield, Connecticut, Photronics has grown through organic expansion and strategic investments in high‐end lithography technology.