New York State Common Retirement Fund Cuts Stock Holdings in Belden Inc (NYSE:BDC)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its position in shares of Belden Inc (NYSE:BDC - Free Report) by 3.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 152,146 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 5,286 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.38% of Belden worth $15,253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Xponance Inc. raised its stake in Belden by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 5,839 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $585,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC boosted its position in shares of Belden by 15.1% during the first quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 7,894 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $792,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Belden by 7.5% in the first quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,679 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,654 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Belden by 22.7% in the first quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,751 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $176,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the period. Finally, Leeward Investments LLC MA boosted its holdings in shares of Belden by 16.5% in the first quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 79,025 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $7,922,000 after purchasing an additional 11,171 shares during the period. 98.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BDC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Belden in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Benchmark upped their price target on shares of Belden from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Belden from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Belden presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $128.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Belden news, SVP Leah Tate sold 231 shares of Belden stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Brian Edward Anderson sold 7,158 shares of Belden stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.51, for a total transaction of $934,190.58. Following the completion of 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Belden Price Performance

Shares of BDC traded down $2.88 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $127.93. 449,956 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 274,399. The stock has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.70 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.93. Belden Inc has a 1-year low of $83.18 and a 1-year high of $131.82. The company has a 50 day moving average of $113.98 and a 200-day moving average of $109.28.

Belden (NYSE:BDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $624.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $615.81 million. Belden had a net margin of 8.35% and a return on equity of 22.28%. The business's revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. Analysts expect that Belden Inc will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 12th were given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 12th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.16%. Belden's dividend payout ratio is presently 3.86%.

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.