Belden Inc (NYSE:BDC) Shares Sold by Natixis Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Belden Inc by 16.9%, selling 6,411 shares and holding about 31,441 shares worth $3.15 million after the transaction.
• Belden received a price target increase to $145.00 from Benchmark, with a consensus rating of "Buy" and a target price of $136.50 from five analysts.
• Belden reported a quarterly earnings beat, with $1.89 earnings per share and revenue of approximately $672 million, reflecting an annual growth of 11.2% in revenue.

Natixis Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Belden Inc (NYSE:BDC - Free Report) by 16.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,441 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 6,411 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Belden worth $3,152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Belden by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 4,806 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $541,000 after buying an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Belden during the 4th quarter valued at about $986,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in shares of Belden by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 40,357 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,545,000 after purchasing an additional 4,859 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Belden in the 4th quarter worth about $443,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Belden by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 40,530 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,564,000 after purchasing an additional 3,795 shares in the last quarter. 98.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Belden

In related news, SVP Leah Tate sold 231 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $26,250.84. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 30,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,428,518.80. The trade was a 0.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Brian Edward Anderson sold 7,158 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.51, for a total value of $934,190.58. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 39,574 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,164,802.74. This represents a 15.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Belden Price Performance

BDC stock traded up $2.98 during trading on Friday, hitting $119.04. The stock had a trading volume of 335,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 285,341. Belden Inc has a twelve month low of $83.18 and a twelve month high of $132.99. The company's 50-day moving average price is $117.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.56 and a beta of 1.28.

Belden (NYSE:BDC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.17. Belden had a return on equity of 23.29% and a net margin of 8.60%. The firm had revenue of $671.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $654.82 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.51 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Belden Inc will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Belden Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 12th were given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 12th. Belden's dividend payout ratio is 3.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on BDC. Wall Street Zen cut Belden from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Belden in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Belden from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Belden has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $136.50.

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.