AQR Capital Management LLC Buys 89,051 Shares of Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT)

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT - Free Report) by 109.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 170,101 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 89,051 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.38% of Ultra Clean worth $6,115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ultra Clean in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ultra Clean by 107.0% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 948 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 854 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its position in Ultra Clean by 58.1% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,913 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Ultra Clean by 139.2% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,382 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 1,386 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UCTT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Ultra Clean from $48.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Ultra Clean from $40.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Ultra Clean from $60.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ultra Clean from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $37.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Ultra Clean Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ UCTT traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $20.03. 440,596 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 453,744. The firm has a market capitalization of $904.33 million, a P/E ratio of 250.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 2.09. Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $16.66 and a one year high of $56.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 2.75 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The company's 50 day moving average is $21.43 and its 200 day moving average is $31.06.

Ultra Clean (NASDAQ:UCTT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.03). Ultra Clean had a return on equity of 4.08% and a net margin of 0.18%. The company had revenue of $518.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $526.13 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. The company's revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Ultra Clean 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.