Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC Sells 2,380 Shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC reduced its position in shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 213,112 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,380 shares during the period. Belden accounts for approximately 1.3% of Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC's holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC owned about 0.53% of Belden worth $23,999,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Belden by 189.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 80,132 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $9,386,000 after acquiring an additional 52,439 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in 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 period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Belden by 29.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,197 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Belden by 1,796.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 23,912 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,693,000 after buying an additional 22,651 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Belden by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,973 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $785,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. 98.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Belden Price Performance

Shares of Belden stock traded down $0.94 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $108.33. 128,540 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 275,904. Belden Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $83.18 and a fifty-two week high of $131.82. The company has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.52 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $101.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $110.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

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

Belden Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.18%. Belden's dividend payout ratio is 3.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BDC shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Belden from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Belden from $139.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Belden in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Belden has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $126.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ashish Chand sold 14,535 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.45, for a total value of $1,619,925.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,129 shares in the company, valued at $11,939,527.05. This represents a 11.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Leah Tate sold 231 shares of Belden stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,170 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,428,518.80. This represents a 0.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,259 shares of company stock valued at $2,340,577. 1.48% of the stock is currently owned by 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.