BNP Paribas Financial Markets Buys 8,429 Shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC - Free Report) by 55.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,646 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,429 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.06% of Belden worth $2,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BDC. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Belden by 189.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 80,132 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $9,386,000 after purchasing an additional 52,439 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Belden by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 32,152 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,621,000 after purchasing an additional 2,757 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Belden by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 34,018 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,831,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Belden by 29.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,197 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Belden by 1,796.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 23,912 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,693,000 after purchasing an additional 22,651 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.75% of the company's stock.

Belden Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:BDC traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $112.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 206,111 shares, compared to its average volume of 276,630. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.38 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $100.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $111.03. Belden Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $83.18 and a fifty-two week high of $131.82.

Belden (NYSE:BDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $624.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $615.81 million. Belden had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 8.06%. The firm's revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Belden Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Belden's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 3.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BDC. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Belden in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com lowered Belden from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Belden from $139.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $126.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Leah Tate sold 231 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $26,250.84. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,170 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,428,518.80. This represents a 0.76% decrease in their position. The transaction 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 company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total value of $234,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,968 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,480. This trade represents a 17.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,259 shares of company stock valued at $2,340,577. 1.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.