Swiss National Bank Purchases 500 Shares of Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC)

Swiss National Bank raised its position in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 63,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.20% of Balchem worth $10,399,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BCPC. FMR LLC boosted its position in Balchem by 944.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 497,495 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $87,559,000 after buying an additional 449,854 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Balchem in the 4th quarter worth $23,628,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Balchem in the 4th quarter worth $13,359,000. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Balchem by 405.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Geneva Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Balchem by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 819,746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $133,615,000 after purchasing an additional 39,877 shares during the last quarter. 87.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Balchem in a research report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com lowered Balchem from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Sidoti raised Balchem to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th.

Balchem Stock Performance

Shares of Balchem stock opened at $163.40 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.32 billion, a PE ratio of 41.58, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.63. Balchem Co. has a 12 month low of $137.69 and a 12 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $164.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.54.

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.08). Balchem had a return on equity of 11.37% and a net margin of 13.47%. The business had revenue of $240.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.96 million. On average, research analysts predict 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.