Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Invests $3.25 Million in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 19,913 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $3,246,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned approximately 0.06% of Balchem as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Balchem by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 317,610 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $51,769,000 after acquiring an additional 16,170 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Balchem in the fourth quarter valued at about $503,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Balchem by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 370,912 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $60,457,000 after purchasing an additional 8,942 shares during the period. Man Group plc bought a new stake in Balchem during the fourth quarter worth about $461,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Balchem by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 124,413 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $20,279,000 after purchasing an additional 25,560 shares during the period. 87.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Balchem and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Sidoti raised shares of Balchem to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Balchem from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st.

Balchem Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ BCPC traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $166.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 106,575 shares, compared to its average volume of 138,728. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $165.59. The stock has a market cap of $5.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.31, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.93. Balchem Co. has a 52 week low of $145.70 and a 52 week high of $186.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

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

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.