Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 10,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,126,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Belden by 380.3% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 166,354 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $18,726,000 after buying an additional 131,719 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Belden during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,252,000. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Belden by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 457,313 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $51,498,000 after buying an additional 17,120 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Belden by 347.3% during the fourth quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 45,139 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,083,000 after purchasing an additional 35,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Belden by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 41,138 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,633,000 after purchasing an additional 11,685 shares in the last quarter. 98.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Belden

In other news, SVP Leah Tate sold 231 shares of Belden 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,170 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,428,518.80. The trade was a 0.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ashish Chand sold 14,535 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,129 shares in the company, valued at $11,939,527.05. The trade was a 11.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,259 shares of company stock worth $2,340,577 in the last quarter. 1.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Belden in a research report on Monday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Belden from $139.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Belden from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $126.20.

Belden Stock Performance

BDC traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $111.54. The company had a trading volume of 25,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 275,028. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $100.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $110.99. The company has a market cap of $4.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.20 and a beta of 1.24. 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 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 analysts' expectations of $615.81 million. Belden had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 8.06%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Belden Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Belden Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. 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.