Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases Shares of 55,957 Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 55,957 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $6,301,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.14% of Belden at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Belden by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,486,337 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $525,485,000 after buying an additional 576,768 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Belden by 6.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,574,784 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $184,532,000 after acquiring an additional 100,145 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in Belden by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 708,092 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $82,939,000 after purchasing an additional 68,151 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Belden by 189.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 80,132 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $9,386,000 after purchasing an additional 52,439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Belden during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,841,000. 98.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Belden Trading Down 3.3 %

BDC stock traded down $3.43 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $100.88. 327,705 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 268,461. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97 and a beta of 1.02. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $110.57 and a 200-day moving average of $114.76. Belden Inc. has a 52-week low of $80.90 and a 52-week high of $131.82.

Belden (NYSE:BDC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.24. Belden had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 8.06%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Belden Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Belden's payout ratio is currently 4.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on BDC. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Belden in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Belden from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $130.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Belden

In other news, CEO Ashish Chand sold 14,535 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.45, for a total transaction of $1,619,925.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,939,527.05. This trade represents a 11.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Gregory James Mccray sold 4,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.21, for a total value of $441,882.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now 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 23,428 shares of company stock worth $2,589,774 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.59% of the company's stock.

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.