Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC Buys Shares of 222,968 Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 222,968 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $2,511,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC owned about 0.55% of Belden as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Belden during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Belden by 208.7% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 392 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Belden by 49.9% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 634 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Belden by 31.3% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 835 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in Belden by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,202 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. 98.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BDC. Loop Capital decreased 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Belden from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Belden in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Belden from $139.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $126.20.

Belden Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE BDC traded down $0.94 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $111.95. 155,544 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 276,089. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $83.18 and a 12 month high of $131.82. The company has a 50 day moving average of $100.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $111.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.42 billion, a PE ratio of 23.27 and a beta of 1.24.

Belden (NYSE:BDC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.60 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $624.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $615.81 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Belden Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Belden

In other news, CEO Ashish Chand sold 14,535 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.45, for a total transaction of $1,619,925.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,939,527.05. This represents a 11.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregory James Mccray sold 4,200 shares of Belden stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.21, for a total value of $441,882.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,199 shares in the company, valued at $441,776.79. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 21,259 shares of company stock worth $2,340,577. Company insiders own 1.48% of the company's stock.

About Belden

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.