JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Holdings in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC - Free Report) by 61.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 294,925 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 111,952 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.73% of Belden worth $33,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its position in Belden by 34.7% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 128,763 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $14,500,000 after acquiring an additional 33,137 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Belden by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 4,806 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Belden during the 4th quarter worth approximately $640,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Belden during the 4th quarter worth approximately $969,000. Finally, AXQ Capital LP purchased a new position in Belden in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.75% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Belden

In related news, SVP Leah Tate sold 2,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.77, for a total value 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. The trade was a 9.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ashish Chand sold 14,535 shares of the company'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 value of $1,619,925.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,939,527.05. This represents a 11.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,428 shares of company stock worth $2,589,774. 1.59% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Belden from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Belden from $139.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Belden in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Belden currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $128.20.

Belden Stock Performance

Shares of BDC stock traded up $1.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $93.37. 237,757 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 273,792. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $104.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $113.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.92. Belden Inc. has a 12-month low of $80.90 and a 12-month high of $131.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41 and a beta of 1.07.

Belden (NYSE:BDC - Get Free Report) last released 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Belden Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. 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.