Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Acquires 18,700 Shares of Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ:BCPC)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its stake in shares of Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ:BCPC - Free Report) by 51.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,316 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 18,700 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC owned 0.17% of Balchem worth $9,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCPC. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Balchem in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,148,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Balchem by 22.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,068 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $177,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Balchem by 243.2% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 9,390 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,559,000 after purchasing an additional 6,654 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Balchem in the 1st quarter worth $202,000. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Balchem by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,582 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Balchem Stock Down 3.5%

NASDAQ BCPC traded down $5.53 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $152.84. 232,035 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 143,550. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.44. The company has a market capitalization of $4.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.89. The company's 50-day moving average is $163.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $162.65. Balchem Corporation has a one year low of $145.70 and a one year high of $186.03.

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.25 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $250.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $245.70 million. Balchem had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 14.16%. The firm's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Balchem Corporation will post 4.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.