Needham & Company LLC Issues Positive Forecast for Ultra Clean (NASDAQ:UCTT) Stock Price

Key Points

• Needham & Company LLC has raised the price target for Ultra Clean (NASDAQ: UCTT) from $26.00 to $30.00, reflecting a potential upside of 21.31% from the stock's previous close and maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Ultra Clean reported $0.27 EPS for the latest quarter, in line with analysts' expectations, and generated revenue of $518.80 million, slightly exceeding estimates.
• Insider transactions show a significant decrease in holdings, with two executives selling shares, leading to a total of 19,878 shares sold worth $399,765 in the last 90 days.

Ultra Clean (NASDAQ:UCTT - Get Free Report) had its price target lifted by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC from $26.00 to $30.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the semiconductor company's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price objective points to a potential upside of 34.53% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on UCTT. Wall Street Zen cut Ultra Clean from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Ultra Clean from $60.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on Ultra Clean from $48.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th.

Ultra Clean Stock Down 1.0%

UCTT stock traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $22.30. 545,023 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 498,639. The firm's 50-day moving average is $22.56 and its 200-day moving average is $25.15. The company has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.60, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 3.06 and a quick ratio of 1.83. Ultra Clean has a 12 month low of $16.66 and a 12 month high of $41.90.

Ultra Clean (NASDAQ:UCTT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The semiconductor company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27. The firm had revenue of $518.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $500.83 million. Ultra Clean had a positive return on equity of 5.32% and a negative net margin of 7.15%. The company's revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ultra Clean will post 1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ultra Clean

In other Ultra Clean news, General Counsel Paul Yoonku Cho sold 4,084 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.06, for a total transaction of $86,009.04. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 23,345 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $491,645.70. This represents a 14.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jamie J. Palfrey sold 9,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.20, for a total transaction of $182,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 30,465 shares in the company, valued at $584,928. This trade represents a 23.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,878 shares of company stock worth $399,765 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ultra Clean

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ultra Clean by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,847,408 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $103,783,000 after purchasing an additional 12,180 shares in the last quarter. Shapiro Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ultra Clean by 66.8% during the 4th quarter. Shapiro Capital Management LLC now owns 2,746,482 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $98,736,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099,899 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Ultra Clean by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,406,834 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $86,526,000 after purchasing an additional 77,307 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ultra Clean by 62.9% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,681,675 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $36,005,000 after purchasing an additional 649,642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY lifted its position in Ultra Clean by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY now owns 758,200 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $16,233,000 after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.06% of the company's stock.

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.