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

Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT) gapped up prior to trading 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 trading hands.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Ultra Clean in a research note on Thursday, March 6th.

Ultra Clean Price Performance

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 fifty day moving average is $34.56 and its 200 day moving average is $35.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 305.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 2.20.

Institutional Trading of Ultra Clean

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Shapiro Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ultra Clean by 66.8% during the fourth quarter. Shapiro Capital Management LLC now owns 2,746,482 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $98,736,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099,899 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in Ultra Clean by 227.1% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,035,214 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $37,625,000 after purchasing an additional 718,717 shares in the last quarter. Goodman Financial Corp purchased a new position in Ultra Clean during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,900,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in Ultra Clean by 41.3% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 714,504 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $25,686,000 after purchasing an additional 208,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oberweis Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Ultra Clean by 39.4% during the fourth quarter. Oberweis Asset Management Inc. now owns 613,300 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $22,048,000 after purchasing an additional 173,200 shares in the last quarter. 96.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.