Ultra Clean Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UCTT) was in 6 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2013. UCTT investors should be aware of a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds in recent months. There were 8 hedge funds in our database with UCTT positions at the end of the previous quarter.
To the average investor, there are plenty of methods investors can use to monitor the equity markets. A pair of the best are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best investment managers can outclass their index-focused peers by a healthy margin (see just how much).
Equally as integral, bullish insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the marketplace. As the old adage goes: there are many stimuli for a bullish insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would behave bullishly. Several academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this method if investors understand what to do (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a peek at the latest action regarding Ultra Clean Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UCTT).
Hedge fund activity in Ultra Clean Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UCTT)
Heading into Q2, a total of 6 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of -25% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the largest position in Ultra Clean Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UCTT), worth close to $13.7 million, comprising less than 0.1%% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is GRT Capital Partners, managed by Gregory Fraser, Rudolph Kluiber, and Timothy Krochuk, which held a $2.8 million position; the fund has 0.6% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Some other hedgies that are bullish include Peter Algert and Kevin Coldiron’s Algert Coldiron Investors, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors and D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw.
Because Ultra Clean Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UCTT) has witnessed a declination in interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, we can see that there lies a certain “tier” of hedgies that decided to sell off their positions entirely heading into Q2. Intriguingly, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management said goodbye to the biggest position of the “upper crust” of funds we track, totaling close to $0.1 million in stock.. Matthew Hulsizer’s fund, PEAK6 Capital Management, also dropped its call options., about $0 million worth. These moves are interesting, as aggregate hedge fund interest was cut by 2 funds heading into Q2.
What have insiders been doing with Ultra Clean Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UCTT)?
Bullish insider trading is at its handiest when the company in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time period, Ultra Clean Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UCTT) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Ultra Clean Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UCTT). These stocks are Rubicon Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:RBCN), Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ), Sigma Designs Inc (NASDAQ:SIGM), MaxLinear, Inc. (NYSE:MXL), and Actions Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (ADR) (NASDAQ:ACTS). All of these stocks are in the semiconductor – specialized industry and their market caps resemble UCTT’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Rubicon Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:RBCN) | 7 | 0 | 2 |
| Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ) | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Sigma Designs Inc (NASDAQ:SIGM) | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| MaxLinear, Inc. (NYSE:MXL) | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Actions Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (ADR) (NASDAQ:ACTS) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
With the returns demonstrated by our strategies, everyday investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Ultra Clean Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UCTT) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
