Russell Investments Group Ltd. Cuts Stock Holdings in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its stake in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 25,526 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 518 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Balchem were worth $4,161,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Balchem in the fourth quarter valued at $70,165,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Balchem in the 4th quarter worth about $23,628,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Balchem in the 4th quarter valued at about $13,359,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Balchem by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 509,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $83,044,000 after purchasing an additional 50,504 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in Balchem by 405.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 60,777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,695,000 after purchasing an additional 48,762 shares in the last quarter. 87.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BCPC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Sidoti upgraded Balchem to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Balchem from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Balchem Stock Performance

Shares of BCPC stock opened at $163.10 on Wednesday. Balchem Co. has a 12-month low of $137.69 and a 12-month high of $186.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $164.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.94.

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $240.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.96 million. Balchem had a net margin of 13.47% and a return on equity of 11.37%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Balchem Co. will post 4.64 EPS for the current year.

Balchem 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.