Ultra Clean (NASDAQ:UCTT) Shares Gap Up on Insider Buying Activity

Shares of Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $22.98, but opened at $24.84. Ultra Clean shares last traded at $24.88, with a volume of 129,174 shares.

Specifically, Director Ernest E. Maddock purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $24.29 per share, with a total value of $242,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at $267,190. This trade represents a 1,000.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bill Bentinck purchased 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.17 per share, for a total transaction of $75,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 60,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,693.15. This represents a 5.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Ultra Clean in a research report on Thursday, March 6th.

Ultra Clean Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of 306.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 2.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.81.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ultra Clean

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Ultra Clean by 132.6% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 36,225 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,302,000 after purchasing an additional 20,650 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ultra Clean by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 219,821 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $7,903,000 after purchasing an additional 6,546 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Ultra Clean by 395.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 83,577 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,337,000 after purchasing an additional 66,695 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ultra Clean by 694.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 977 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 854 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Ultra Clean by 27.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 506,107 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $20,209,000 after purchasing an additional 110,403 shares in the last quarter. 96.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ultra Clean Company Profile

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.