Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) Short Interest Update

Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 337,300 shares, a decline of 5.7% from the March 31st total of 357,800 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 99,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Balchem

In other Balchem news, CAO William A. Backus sold 9,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.37, for a total transaction of $1,435,476.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,019,362.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Balchem news, CAO William A. Backus sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were 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 approximately $917,793.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO William A. Backus sold 9,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.37, for a total transaction of $1,435,476.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,914 shares in the company, valued at $2,019,362.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 76,630 shares of company stock valued at $11,843,249 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Balchem

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Balchem by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 121,530 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $15,075,000 after purchasing an additional 7,973 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of Balchem by 71.0% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 51,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,662,000 after acquiring an additional 21,300 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Balchem in the third quarter worth approximately $465,000. Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its position in shares of Balchem by 32.5% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 225,303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,947,000 after acquiring an additional 55,203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in shares of Balchem by 81.3% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 13,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,613,000 after acquiring an additional 5,829 shares in the last quarter. 87.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Balchem Stock Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ BCPC opened at $143.82 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.12 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $151.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.37. Balchem has a 12 month low of $110.74 and a 12 month high of $159.52. The company has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.93, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.71.

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The basic materials company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.02. Balchem had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The business had revenue of $228.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $234.66 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Balchem will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Balchem from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th.

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.