Prudential Financial Inc. Raises Position in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

Prudential Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC - Free Report) by 34.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 128,763 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 33,137 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.32% of Belden worth $14,500,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Belden by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 4,806 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $541,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Belden in the 4th quarter worth about $640,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Belden during the 4th quarter valued at about $969,000. AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Belden during the 4th quarter valued at about $209,000. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Belden in the fourth quarter worth approximately $370,000. 98.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Belden news, CEO Ashish Chand sold 14,535 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,939,527.05. The trade was a 11.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Leah Tate sold 2,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.77, for a total transaction of $275,448.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,243 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,667,599.11. This trade represents a 9.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 23,428 shares of company stock valued at $2,589,774. Insiders own 1.59% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BDC has been the subject of several research reports. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Belden in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Belden from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $130.25.

Belden Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Belden stock traded up $1.00 on Tuesday, reaching $101.25. The company had a trading volume of 297,290 shares, compared to its average volume of 269,254. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $109.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.97. The firm has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.05 and a beta of 1.02. Belden Inc. has a 1 year low of $80.90 and a 1 year high of $131.82.

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

Belden Dividend Announcement

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

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.