ICW Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC)

ICW Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,071 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 90 shares during the period. ICW Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Balchem were worth $1,796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Balchem by 123.0% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 165 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in Balchem during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Balchem during the 4th quarter valued at about $56,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Balchem by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 953 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bill Few Associates Inc. bought a new position in Balchem during the 4th quarter valued at about $212,000. 87.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael Robert Sestrick sold 11,100 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 6,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,032,022.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Michael Robert Sestrick sold 11,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.21, for a total value of $1,700,631.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,032,022.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO William A. Backus sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.19, for a total transaction of $1,086,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,914 shares in the company, valued at $917,793.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have 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 cut shares of Balchem from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th.

Balchem Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of BCPC traded up $1.84 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $143.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 23,564 shares, compared to its average volume of 103,358. Balchem Co. has a 52-week low of $110.74 and a 52-week high of $159.52. The company’s 50-day moving average is $151.53 and its 200-day moving average is $140.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.20, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.71.

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The basic materials company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.02. Balchem had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The company had revenue of $228.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $234.66 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. Balchem’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Balchem Co. will post 4.1 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.