Ultra Clean (NASDAQ:UCTT) Trading Down 3.8% – Time to Sell?

Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT) shares dropped 3.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $34.90 and last traded at $35.03. Approximately 67,790 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 368,201 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.43.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Ultra Clean in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Ultra Clean from $60.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Ultra Clean from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.75.

Ultra Clean Stock Up 0.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 437.55 and a beta of 2.09. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $36.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Ultra Clean (NASDAQ:UCTT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.02. Ultra Clean had a net margin of 0.18% and a return on equity of 4.08%. The firm had revenue of $540.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $515.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.03) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ultra Clean

In other news, COO Harjinder Bajwa purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $33.75 per share, for a total transaction of $337,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief operating officer now owns 54,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,832,321.25. This trade represents a 22.58 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jeffrey L. Mckibben sold 3,422 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.20, for a total transaction of $130,720.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 18,805 shares in the company, valued at $718,351. This represents a 15.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders bought 27,500 shares of company stock worth $943,275. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ultra Clean

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Ultra Clean by 130.1% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 367,212 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $14,663,000 after purchasing an additional 207,633 shares in the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ultra Clean in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,048,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Ultra Clean by 454.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 335,096 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $13,380,000 after acquiring an additional 274,628 shares during the last quarter. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ultra Clean during the 3rd quarter worth about $885,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in Ultra Clean during the 2nd quarter valued at about $828,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.06% of the company’s stock.

About Ultra Clean

Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc develops and supplies critical subsystems, components and parts, and ultra-high purity cleaning and analytical services for the semiconductor industry in the United States and internationally. The company provides ultra-clean valves, high purity connectors, industrial process connectors and valves, pneumatic actuators, manifolds and safety solutions, hoses, pressure gauges, and gas line and component heaters; chemical delivery modules that deliver gases and reactive chemicals in a liquid or gaseous form from a centralized subsystem to the reaction chamber; and gas delivery systems, such as weldments, filters, mass flow controllers, regulators, pressure transducers and valves, component heaters, and an integrated electronic and/or pneumatic control system.