Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) Shares Acquired by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its position in shares of Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) by 1.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,338 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 509 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned 0.14% of Balchem worth $7,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCPC. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Balchem during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Balchem by 568.9% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 301 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Balchem during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $69,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Balchem by 18.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Balchem in the 2nd quarter worth $200,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Balchem

In other news, SVP Gunsteren Job Leonard Van sold 7,750 shares of Balchem stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.05, for a total value of $1,395,387.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,537,627. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on BCPC shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Balchem from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. HC Wainwright raised their target price on Balchem from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Balchem Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BCPC opened at $163.97 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $169.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $158.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.32, a PEG ratio of 5.32 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 1.79. Balchem Co. has a 1-year low of $110.74 and a 1-year high of $186.03.

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The basic materials company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.03. Balchem had a net margin of 12.52% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The company had revenue of $234.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $241.26 million. Analysts forecast that Balchem Co. will post 3.96 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.