Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Stake in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its position in shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC - Free Report) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 66,385 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 2,886 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.16% of Belden worth $7,476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in Belden by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,202 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Belden by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,277 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Belden by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,843 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,334,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Belden by 31.3% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 835 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in Belden by 49.9% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 634 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.75% of the company's stock.

Belden Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of BDC traded up $3.11 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $100.04. The company had a trading volume of 30,112 shares, compared to its average volume of 273,844. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79 and a beta of 1.07. 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 52-week low of $81.02 and a 52-week high of $131.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $101.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.51.

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

Belden Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Belden's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on BDC. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price 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 cut shares of Belden from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Benchmark dropped their price objective on Belden from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Belden has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $126.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gregory James Mccray sold 4,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.21, for a total value of $441,882.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,776.79. This represents a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Leah Tate sold 2,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,667,599.11. This represents a 9.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 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.

About Belden

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.