Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) Shares Acquired by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,452 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Balchem were worth $400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of Balchem by 1.6% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 28,488 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,989,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Balchem by 944.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 497,495 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $87,559,000 after acquiring an additional 449,854 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Balchem by 21.5% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 21,356 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,759,000 after acquiring an additional 3,772 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Balchem by 6.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 83,651 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,723,000 after acquiring an additional 4,812 shares during the period. Finally, PDT Partners LLC purchased a new position in Balchem during the third quarter worth about $598,000. 87.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BCPC. StockNews.com lowered Balchem from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Sidoti upgraded Balchem to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Balchem in a research report on Monday, February 24th.

Balchem Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of BCPC opened at $166.00 on Tuesday. Balchem Co. has a twelve month low of $137.69 and a twelve month high of $186.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.24, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.63. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $165.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.27.

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $240.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.96 million. Balchem had a return on equity of 11.37% and a net margin of 13.47%. On average, research analysts predict that Balchem Co. will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.