Guggenheim Capital LLC Takes Position in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

Guggenheim Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,181 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $358,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Belden in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Belden by 49.9% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 634 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in Belden by 31.3% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 835 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in Belden by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,202 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Matrix Trust Co boosted its holdings in Belden by 624.8% in the fourth quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 1,522 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,312 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.75% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Belden from $139.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Belden from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Benchmark lowered their price objective on Belden from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $126.20.

Belden Stock Performance

Shares of BDC stock traded up $2.73 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $104.08. The company had a trading volume of 53,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 293,247. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.92. Belden Inc. has a one year low of $83.18 and a one year high of $131.82. The firm has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a PE ratio of 21.64 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $100.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $111.82.

Belden (NYSE:BDC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.60 earnings per share 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%. Belden's revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Belden Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Belden's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Belden

In other news, CEO Ashish Chand sold 14,535 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Leah Tate sold 2,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,667,599.11. This represents a 9.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,428 shares of company stock valued at $2,589,774 over the last 90 days. 1.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.