Wendell David Associates Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC)

Wendell David Associates Inc. reduced its stake in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) by 12.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,127 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,450 shares during the period. Wendell David Associates Inc.’s holdings in Balchem were worth $2,843,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Balchem by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,961,487 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $645,703,000 after purchasing an additional 42,693 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Balchem by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 938,504 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $153,000,000 after buying an additional 9,600 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Balchem by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 819,746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $133,615,000 after buying an additional 39,877 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Balchem by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 576,994 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $94,047,000 after buying an additional 79,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Balchem by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 509,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $83,044,000 after acquiring an additional 50,504 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 research analysts have recently commented on the company. HC Wainwright set a $180.00 target price on Balchem and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Balchem from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Sidoti raised shares of Balchem to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th.

Balchem Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ BCPC opened at $160.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.71, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.91. Balchem Co. has a 1-year low of $145.70 and a 1-year high of $186.03. The business’s 50 day moving average is $163.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $164.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $250.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $245.70 million. Balchem had a return on equity of 11.37% and a net margin of 13.47%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, research 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.