Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Balchem Price Performance

Shares of BCPC stock opened at $139.26 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.34, a P/E/G ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.71. Balchem has a fifty-two week low of $110.74 and a fifty-two week high of $159.52. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $152.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.12.

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 16th. The basic materials company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $228.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $234.66 million. Balchem had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 11.77%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Balchem will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Balchem

In related news, CAO William A. Backus sold 7,000 shares of Balchem stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.19, for a total transaction of $1,086,330.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,914 shares in the company, valued at $917,793.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO William A. Backus sold 7,000 shares of Balchem stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.19, for a total transaction of $1,086,330.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,914 shares in the company, valued at $917,793.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Theodore L. Harris sold 34,350 shares of Balchem stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.29, for a total value of $5,299,861.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 66,412 shares in the company, valued at $10,246,707.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 76,630 shares of company stock worth $11,843,249. 1.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Balchem

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Balchem by 18.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management raised its stake in Balchem by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 19,539 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,922,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Balchem by 123.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 165 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Balchem by 2.1% during the third quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,814 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $597,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in Balchem by 0.7% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 14,532 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,803,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. 87.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.