BNP Paribas Financial Markets Grows Stock Holdings in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC - Free Report) by 283.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,805 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 60,449 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.25% of Balchem worth $13,334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Algert Global LLC grew its stake in Balchem by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 20,813 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,392,000 after purchasing an additional 3,032 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Balchem in the fourth quarter worth about $316,000. Comerica Bank boosted its stake in shares of Balchem by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 101,144 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $16,486,000 after buying an additional 2,370 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Balchem by 68.1% in the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 3,740 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $610,000 after acquiring an additional 1,515 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Balchem by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 407,054 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $66,348,000 after acquiring an additional 35,152 shares in the last quarter. 87.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Balchem Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of BCPC traded up $1.72 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $168.83. 33,839 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 136,258. Balchem Co. has a 52-week low of $145.70 and a 52-week high of $186.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $161.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $166.37. The firm has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.00, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.99.

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by ($0.03). Balchem had a return on equity of 11.37% and a net margin of 13.47%. The firm had revenue of $250.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $245.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Balchem Co. will post 4.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BCPC shares. Sidoti raised Balchem to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. HC Wainwright set a $180.00 target price on Balchem and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Balchem from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday.

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.