Sapience Investments LLC Sells 2,780 Shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

Sapience Investments LLC reduced its position in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC - Free Report) by 14.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,923 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,780 shares during the quarter. Sapience Investments LLC's holdings in Belden were worth $1,906,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Belden by 189.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 80,132 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $9,386,000 after buying an additional 52,439 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Belden by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 32,152 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,621,000 after buying an additional 2,757 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Belden by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 34,018 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,831,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Belden by 29.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,197 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Belden by 1,796.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 23,912 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,693,000 after acquiring an additional 22,651 shares in the last quarter. 98.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Belden

In other news, SVP Leah Tate sold 231 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 0.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jonathan C. Klein sold 2,129 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total value of $234,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,968 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,096,480. The trade was a 17.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,259 shares of company stock worth $2,340,577. 1.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Belden Stock Performance

NYSE:BDC traded up $0.02 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $111.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 171,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 275,929. The firm has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.16 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $100.99 and a 200-day moving average of $110.99. Belden Inc. has a 12 month low of $83.18 and a 12 month high of $131.82.

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

Belden Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.18%. Belden's payout ratio is 3.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on BDC. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Belden in a report on Monday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Belden from $139.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Belden from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price objective 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. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $126.20.

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.