Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) Shares Acquired by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) by 13.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,904 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 690 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Belden were worth $665,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Belden by 49.9% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Belden by 31.3% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 835 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Belden by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $135,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in Belden by 72.3% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,427 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $167,000 after acquiring an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Matrix Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Belden by 624.8% during the fourth quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 1,522 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,312 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Belden Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Belden stock opened at $89.46 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Belden Inc. has a 52-week low of $80.90 and a 52-week high of $131.82. The company has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50 day moving average of $107.47 and a 200 day moving average of $114.61.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.24. Belden had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.42%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Belden Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Belden’s payout ratio is 4.16%.

Insider Activity at Belden

In other news, Director Gregory James Mccray sold 4,200 shares of Belden stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.21, for a total transaction of $441,882.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,776.79. The trade was a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Leah Tate sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.77, for a total value of $275,448.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,667,599.11. This trade represents a 9.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,428 shares of company stock valued at $2,589,774 over the last three months. 1.59% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BDC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Belden in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com lowered Belden from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their target price on Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Belden currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.25.

Belden 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.