Northern Trust Corp Buys 37,230 Shares of Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT)

Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCTT - Free Report) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 513,810 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 37,230 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.14% of Ultra Clean worth $18,471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new stake in shares of Ultra Clean in the fourth quarter worth $243,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Ultra Clean by 58.1% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,913 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 703 shares during the last quarter. Oberweis Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ultra Clean by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Oberweis Asset Management Inc. now owns 613,300 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $22,048,000 after acquiring an additional 173,200 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Ultra Clean by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 72,437 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Ultra Clean by 81.7% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 10,821 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $388,000 after acquiring an additional 4,864 shares during the last quarter. 96.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ultra Clean Stock Performance

Shares of Ultra Clean stock traded down $0.47 during trading on Friday, hitting $22.05. 396,338 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 461,298. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 2.75 and a quick ratio of 1.63. Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.66 and a 1 year high of $56.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $995.54 million, a P/E ratio of 275.66, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 2.09. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.65.

Ultra Clean (NASDAQ:UCTT - Get Free Report) last released 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). Ultra Clean had a net margin of 0.18% and a return on equity of 4.08%. The business had revenue of $518.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $526.13 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Ultra Clean Holdings, Inc. will post 1.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ultra Clean

In other news, insider Bill Bentinck bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $25.17 per share, with a total value of $75,510.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 60,695 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,693.15. The trade was a 5.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jamie J. Palfrey sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.20, for a total value of $182,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $584,928. This represents a 23.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.