Swiss National Bank Has $10.40 Million Stake in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC)

Swiss National Bank raised its position in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 63,800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Balchem were worth $10,399,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Balchem by 1.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,234,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $217,224,000 after acquiring an additional 12,006 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Balchem by 3.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 928,904 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $163,514,000 after acquiring an additional 27,979 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Balchem by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 819,746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $133,615,000 after acquiring an additional 39,877 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Balchem by 944.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 497,495 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $87,559,000 after acquiring an additional 449,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Balchem by 1.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 458,986 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $80,782,000 after acquiring an additional 7,721 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BCPC shares. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Balchem in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Sidoti raised Balchem to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Balchem from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Balchem Trading Down 1.1 %

Balchem stock opened at $163.40 on Friday. Balchem Co. has a 52 week low of $137.69 and a 52 week high of $186.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.58, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.54.

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

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.