Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $982,000 in Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 31,300 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $982,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System owned about 0.05% of Photronics as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Photronics by 117.7% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 43,739 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $884,000 after purchasing an additional 23,651 shares during the period. Tectonic Advisors LLC boosted its position in Photronics by 136.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 34,575 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $699,000 after buying an additional 19,974 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Photronics by 306.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 37,680 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $762,000 after buying an additional 28,418 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio boosted its position in Photronics by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 37,400 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $755,000 after buying an additional 4,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Photronics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $338,000. 88.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Photronics Stock Performance

Shares of Photronics stock opened at $27.51 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a PE ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.47. Photronics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.86 and a 1 year high of $34.16.

Photronics (NASDAQ:PLAB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The semiconductor company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.01). The company 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Photronics, Inc. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

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.