The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts Belden (NYSE:BDC) Price Target to $120.00

Belden (NYSE:BDC) had its price target trimmed by The Goldman Sachs Group from $139.00 to $120.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Belden from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Belden in a report on Monday, February 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $128.20.

Belden Stock Performance

Shares of Belden stock opened at $93.37 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $104.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $113.70. Belden has a 52 week low of $80.90 and a 52 week high of $131.82. The company has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 19.41 and a beta of 1.07. 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 (NYSE:BDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Belden will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.21%. Belden’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Belden

In other Belden news, SVP Leah Tate sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.77, for a total transaction of $275,448.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,243 shares in the company, valued at $2,667,599.11. The trade was a 9.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ashish Chand sold 14,535 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.45, for a total transaction of $1,619,925.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,939,527.05. The trade was a 11.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,428 shares of company stock valued at $2,589,774 over the last ninety days. 1.59% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Belden

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BDC. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Belden during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Belden by 208.7% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 392 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Belden in the 4th quarter valued at about $61,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Belden by 49.9% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of 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. 98.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.