New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Invests $5.35 Million in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 32,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,345,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC owned about 0.10% of Balchem as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BCPC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Balchem by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,961,487 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $645,703,000 after purchasing an additional 42,693 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Balchem by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,234,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $217,224,000 after buying an additional 12,006 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Balchem by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 928,904 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $163,514,000 after buying an additional 27,979 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Balchem by 11.0% in the fourth 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BCPC. StockNews.com cut Balchem from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Sidoti raised Balchem to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Balchem in a report on Monday, February 24th.

Balchem Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BCPC opened at $163.79 on Friday. Balchem Co. has a 12-month low of $137.69 and a 12-month high of $186.03. The company has a market cap of $5.33 billion, a PE ratio of 41.68, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $165.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.03 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.96 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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.