Vanguard Group Inc. Has $548.66 Million Stake in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,872,237 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 28,279 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Belden worth $548,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in Belden by 49.9% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Belden by 31.3% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 835 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Belden by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in Belden by 72.3% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,427 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Matrix Trust Co increased its stake in Belden by 624.8% in the 4th quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 1,522 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $171,000 after buying an additional 1,312 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gregory James Mccray sold 4,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.21, for a total transaction of $441,882.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,199 shares in the company, valued at $441,776.79. The trade was a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jonathan C. Klein sold 2,129 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $234,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,968 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,480. The trade was a 17.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,428 shares of company stock worth $2,589,774 in the last quarter. 1.59% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Belden in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com raised Belden from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price target on Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $130.25.

Belden Price Performance

NYSE BDC opened at $100.30 on Tuesday. Belden Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.90 and a fifty-two week high of $131.82. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $109.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $114.98. The firm has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.85 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.24. Belden had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 8.06%. On average, analysts anticipate that Belden Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Belden Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.20%. Belden’s payout ratio is presently 4.16%.

Belden Company Profile

Belden Inc designs, manufactures, and markets a portfolio of signal transmission solutions for mission critical applications in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates in two segments, Enterprise Solutions and Industrial Automation Solutions. The Enterprise Solutions segment offers copper cable and connectivity solutions, fiber cable and connectivity solutions, interconnect panels, racks and enclosures, and signal extension and matrix switching systems for use in applications, such as local area networks, data centers, access control, 5G, fiber to the home, and building automation.