Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $69.64 Million Holdings in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC)

Clearbridge Investments LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 452,336 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 53,807 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Balchem were worth $69,637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BCPC. CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Balchem in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $289,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Balchem by 543.6% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 13,676 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,034,000 after purchasing an additional 11,551 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Balchem by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 239,657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,649,000 after purchasing an additional 14,354 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Balchem by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,791,512 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $563,987,000 after purchasing an additional 30,868 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Balchem by 18.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BCPC has been the subject of several research reports. HC Wainwright raised their price target on Balchem from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com lowered Balchem from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th.

Insider Transactions at Balchem

In other Balchem news, SVP Gunsteren Job Leonard Van sold 7,750 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,540 shares in the company, valued at $1,537,627. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Balchem Price Performance

Shares of Balchem stock opened at $174.16 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $171.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $160.24. Balchem Co. has a twelve month low of $110.74 and a twelve month high of $186.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $234.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $241.26 million. Balchem had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 12.52%. Analysts forecast that Balchem Co. will post 3.96 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.