Hedge Funds Are Dumping Balchem Corporation (BCPC)

Is Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ:BCPC) the right investment to pursue these days? Investors who are in the know are taking a pessimistic view. The number of long hedge fund bets were cut by 2 in recent months.

At the moment, there are plenty of metrics investors can use to watch stocks. Some of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite money managers can trounce their index-focused peers by a very impressive margin (see just how much).

Equally as important, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to break down the stock market universe. As the old adage goes: there are many incentives for an executive to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very simple reason why they would buy. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if piggybackers know what to do (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, we’re going to take a gander at the key action surrounding Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ:BCPC).

What have hedge funds been doing with Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ:BCPC)?

At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 7 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of -22% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably.

Of the funds we track, Royce & Associates, managed by Chuck Royce, holds the most valuable position in Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ:BCPC). Royce & Associates has a $51.9 million position in the stock, comprising 0.2% of its 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, which held a $7.1 million position; less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedge funds that hold long positions include “Richard S. Meisenberg’s ACK Asset Management, Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

Judging by the fact that Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ:BCPC) has faced declining sentiment from hedge fund managers, it’s safe to say that there exists a select few money managers that slashed their full holdings in Q4. At the top of the heap, Mike Vranos’s Ellington dropped the biggest position of all the hedgies we key on, totaling close to $0.3 million in stock., and Steven Cohen of SAC Capital Advisors was right behind this move, as the fund said goodbye to about $0.3 million worth. These moves are important to note, as total hedge fund interest was cut by 2 funds in Q4.

How are insiders trading Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ:BCPC)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is particularly usable when the company in focus has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time frame, Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ:BCPC) has seen 1 unique insiders buying, and 3 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ:BCPC). These stocks are FutureFuel Corp. (NYSE:FF), Rentech, Inc. (NYSEAMEX:RTK), LSB Industries, Inc. (NYSE:LXU), PetroLogistics LP (NYSE:PDH), and A. Schulman Inc (NASDAQ:SHLM). This group of stocks belong to the chemicals – major diversified industry and their market caps resemble BCPC’s market cap.

With the results demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s studies, retail investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Balchem Corporation (NASDAQ:BCPC) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.

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