Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Cuts Stake in Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT)

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC cut its holdings in Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT) by 55.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 115,396 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 142,804 shares during the quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC’s holdings in Ultra Clean were worth $4,148,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Ultra Clean by 32.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 161,828 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,818,000 after purchasing an additional 39,879 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in Ultra Clean by 81.4% during the fourth quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 154,320 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,548,000 after buying an additional 69,256 shares during the period. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in Ultra Clean by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 107,686 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,871,000 after buying an additional 21,739 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ultra Clean by 109.9% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 170,101 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,115,000 after acquiring an additional 89,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ultra Clean in the 4th quarter valued at $228,000. 96.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Ultra Clean from $48.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Ultra Clean from $40.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Ultra Clean from $60.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ultra Clean from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ultra Clean presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ernest E. Maddock bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $24.29 per share, for a total transaction of $242,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $267,190. This represents a 1,000.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jamie J. Palfrey sold 9,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.20, for a total transaction of $182,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $584,928. This represents a 23.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Ultra Clean Stock Performance

Shares of Ultra Clean stock opened at $20.03 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $904.33 million, a P/E ratio of 250.41, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 2.09. Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.66 and a 52 week high of $56.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $21.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.09.

Ultra Clean (NASDAQ:UCTT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $518.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $526.13 million. Ultra Clean had a return on equity of 4.08% and a net margin of 0.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

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.