William Blair Investment Management LLC Purchases 38,806 Shares of Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC)

William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) by 16.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 274,545 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 38,806 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Balchem were worth $44,749,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Balchem by 63.7% during the 4th quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 35,069 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,438,000 after buying an additional 13,642 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Balchem by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 458,986 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $80,782,000 after buying an additional 7,721 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Balchem by 26.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 11,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,093,000 after purchasing an additional 2,467 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Balchem during the 4th quarter worth approximately $503,000. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Balchem by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 317,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,769,000 after purchasing an additional 16,170 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.91% of the company’s stock.

Balchem Stock Up 0.4 %

Balchem stock opened at $168.46 on Tuesday. Balchem Co. has a 1-year low of $137.69 and a 1-year high of $186.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.87, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $164.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.70.

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $240.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.96 million. Balchem had a net margin of 13.47% and a return on equity of 11.37%. On average, analysts predict that Balchem Co. will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Balchem from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Sidoti upgraded shares of Balchem to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Balchem in a research note on Monday, February 24th.

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.