Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) Position Increased by Lord Abbett & CO. LLC

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its position in shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC - Free Report) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 711,784 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,692 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned approximately 1.76% of Belden worth $80,154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BDC. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Belden during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,167,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Belden by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,710,224 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $530,418,000 after purchasing an additional 223,887 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Belden by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 294,925 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $33,212,000 after purchasing an additional 111,952 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Belden by 121.4% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 177,397 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $19,977,000 after purchasing an additional 97,265 shares during the period. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Belden by 169.6% during the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 146,317 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $16,477,000 after purchasing an additional 92,037 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.75% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BDC. Benchmark decreased their price target on shares of Belden from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of 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 downgraded shares of Belden from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their target price 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Belden currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $126.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Belden

In related news, SVP Leah Tate sold 2,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $2,667,599.11. This trade represents a 9.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ashish Chand sold 14,535 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,939,527.05. The trade was a 11.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,428 shares of company stock worth $2,589,774. 1.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Belden Stock Performance

NYSE BDC traded down $0.70 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $102.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 96,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 288,645. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.02. Belden Inc. has a 52 week low of $81.02 and a 52 week high of $131.82. The stock has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a PE ratio of 21.22 and a beta of 1.07.

Belden (NYSE:BDC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.24. Belden had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.42%. 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 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 dividend yield of 0.20%. Belden's payout ratio is currently 4.16%.

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.