Here’s Why Wasatch Global Investors ‘Decided to Exit’ NeoPhotonics (NPTN)

Wasatch Global Investors, an investment management firm, published its “Wasatch Micro Cap Fund” fourth quarter 2021 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. The Wasatch Micro Cap Fund—Investor Class slipped -0.44% for the fourth quarter. The benchmark Russell Microcap® Index posted a larger decline of -2.66%, while small, mid, and large-cap benchmarks generally posted gains for the same period. With risk aversion and uncertainty elevated, cautious investors sought the perceived safety of larger companies. Spare some time to check the fund’s top 5 holdings to have a clue about their top bets for 2022.

Wasatch Micro Cap Fund, in its Q4 2021 investor letter, mentioned NeoPhotonics Corporation (NYSE: NPTN) and discussed its stance on the firm. NeoPhotonics Corporation is a San Jose, California-based lasers and optoelectronic solutions provider with an $811.7 million market capitalization. NPTN delivered a -0.59% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are up by 74.43%. The stock closed at $15.28 per share on March 03, 2022.

Here is what Wasatch Micro Cap Fund has to say about NeoPhotonics Corporation in its Q4 2021 investor letter:

“NeoPhotonics Corp. (NPTN) was also a top contributor. The company develops and manufactures lasers and optoelectronic products that transmit, receive and switch high-speed digital signals used to connect the cloud, data centers and telecommunication networks. Shares of NeoPhotonics soared in November after the company agreed to be acquired at a hefty premium in an all-cash transaction expected to be completed during the second half of 2022. Rather than wait for the deal to close, we decided to exit the stock.”

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Our calculations show that NeoPhotonics Corporation (NYSE: NPTN) failed to obtain a mark on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. NPTN was in 20 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to 17 funds in the previous quarter. NeoPhotonics Corporation (NYSE: NPTN) delivered a 0.73% return in the past 3 months.

In November 2021, we published an article that includes NPTN in the 10 Stocks To Invest In According To Jamie Zimmerman’s Litespeed Capital. You can find more than 100 investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2021 Q4 page.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.