DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Sells 32,800 Shares of Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lowered its holdings in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) by 61.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 32,800 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Balchem were worth $3,105,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Balchem by 3.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,935,935 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $609,873,000 after acquiring an additional 144,423 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Balchem by 2.7% in the second quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,155,209 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $177,844,000 after acquiring an additional 29,825 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Balchem by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 687,485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $102,265,000 after acquiring an additional 11,629 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in Balchem by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 521,590 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $77,587,000 after acquiring an additional 2,801 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Balchem in the fourth quarter valued at $52,233,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Balchem

In related news, SVP Gunsteren Job Leonard Van sold 7,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.05, for a total transaction of $1,395,387.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,537,627. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCPC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Balchem from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of Balchem from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st.

Balchem Stock Performance

NASDAQ BCPC opened at $176.04 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $171.03 and a 200-day moving average of $159.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock has a market cap of $5.71 billion, a PE ratio of 49.73, a P/E/G ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.65. Balchem Co. has a 52-week low of $110.74 and a 52-week high of $186.03.

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The basic materials company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $234.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $241.26 million. Balchem had a net margin of 12.52% and a return on equity of 10.94%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Balchem Co. will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

About Balchem

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.