Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) Shares Purchased by Wells Fargo & Company MN

Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC - Free Report) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,357 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,859 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned about 0.10% of Belden worth $4,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $82,939,000 after acquiring an additional 68,151 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Belden in the 4th quarter valued at about $54,167,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Belden by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 294,925 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $33,212,000 after purchasing an additional 111,952 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in Belden by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 230,170 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $26,387,000 after purchasing an additional 69,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Belden by 169.6% during the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 146,317 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $16,477,000 after purchasing an additional 92,037 shares in the last quarter. 98.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Belden Trading Up 4.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BDC traded up $4.02 during trading on Thursday, reaching $100.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 86,019 shares, compared to its average volume of 274,082. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a PE ratio of 20.95 and a beta of 1.07. Belden Inc. has a 12 month low of $81.02 and a 12 month high of $131.82. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $101.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $112.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Belden (NYSE:BDC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, research analysts predict that Belden Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Belden's payout ratio is 4.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Belden

In related news, SVP Leah Tate sold 2,400 shares of Belden stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.77, for a total value of $275,448.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,243 shares in the company, valued at $2,667,599.11. This trade represents a 9.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ashish Chand sold 14,535 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.45, for a total value of $1,619,925.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 107,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,939,527.05. This trade represents a 11.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,428 shares of company stock valued at $2,589,774. Company insiders own 1.59% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on BDC. StockNews.com lowered Belden from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Loop Capital dropped their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Belden from $139.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Benchmark cut their price target on Belden from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $126.20.

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.