Cardinal Capital Management Acquires 79 Shares of Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC)

Cardinal Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,539 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the quarter. Cardinal Capital Management owned approximately 0.06% of Balchem worth $2,922,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BCPC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Balchem during the fourth quarter worth $40,469,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Balchem by 462.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 322,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $39,947,000 after purchasing an additional 264,836 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Balchem by 7.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,862,027 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $469,545,000 after buying an additional 261,534 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Balchem by 86.1% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 491,506 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,018,000 after buying an additional 227,360 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Balchem by 58.8% during the third quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 345,020 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,949,000 after buying an additional 127,686 shares during the period. 87.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Balchem

In related news, CAO William A. Backus sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.73, for a total transaction of $2,320,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,998,183.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Balchem news, CAO William A. Backus sold 15,000 shares of Balchem stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.73, for a total transaction of $2,320,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,914 shares in the company, valued at $1,998,183.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael Robert Sestrick sold 11,100 shares of Balchem stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.21, for a total transaction of $1,700,631.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,032,022.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 76,630 shares of company stock valued at $11,843,249. Corporate insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Balchem from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st.

Balchem Stock Performance

Shares of BCPC traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $149.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,810 shares, compared to its average volume of 105,892. The company has a market cap of $4.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.47, a PEG ratio of 4.61 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.12 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $151.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.43. Balchem Co. has a 52-week low of $110.74 and a 52-week high of $159.52.

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The basic materials company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $228.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $234.66 million. Balchem had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Balchem Co. will post 4.14 earnings per share 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.