Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Position in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,961,487 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 42,693 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Balchem worth $645,703,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in Balchem by 61.1% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 43,178 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,599,000 after acquiring an additional 16,378 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Balchem by 1.6% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 28,488 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,989,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Balchem by 944.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 497,495 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $87,559,000 after purchasing an additional 449,854 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Balchem by 21.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 21,356 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,759,000 after purchasing an additional 3,772 shares during the period. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in Balchem by 9.2% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 15,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,693,000 after buying an additional 1,290 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Balchem in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Sidoti raised shares of Balchem to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Balchem from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Balchem Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of BCPC stock opened at $163.79 on Monday. Balchem Co. has a twelve month low of $137.69 and a twelve month high of $186.03. The stock has a market cap of $5.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.68, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $165.26 and a 200 day moving average of $169.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.08). Balchem had a net margin of 13.47% and a return on equity of 11.37%. The firm had revenue of $240.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.96 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Balchem Co. will post 4.64 EPS for the current year.

Balchem Company Profile

Balchem Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets specialty performance ingredients and products for the nutritional, food, pharmaceutical, animal health, medical device sterilization, plant nutrition, and industrial markets worldwide. It operates through three segments: Human Nutrition and Health, Animal Nutrition and Health, and Specialty Products.