Jane Street Group LLC Purchases 25,838 Shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC - Free Report) by 111.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,067 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 25,838 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC owned 0.12% of Belden worth $5,525,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Comerica Bank raised its position in shares of Belden by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 28,454 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,204,000 after buying an additional 3,439 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Belden in the 4th quarter worth about $450,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Belden by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 633,204 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $71,305,000 after purchasing an additional 58,508 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new stake in shares of Belden during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,504,000. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its stake in Belden by 208.7% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 392 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. 98.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Belden Stock Performance

BDC stock traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $112.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 52,675 shares, compared to its average volume of 275,467. The stock has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.39 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $100.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $111.17. Belden Inc. has a 1 year low of $83.18 and a 1 year high of $131.82.

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

Belden Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.18%. Belden's payout ratio is 3.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Belden 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 value of $26,250.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,170 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,428,518.80. This represents a 0.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory James Mccray sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.21, for a total transaction of $441,882.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,199 shares of the company's stock, valued at $441,776.79. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,259 shares of company stock valued at $2,340,577 over the last ninety days. 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.