Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,706 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Belden were worth $1,994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Belden by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,486,337 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $525,485,000 after buying an additional 576,768 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Belden by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,574,784 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $184,532,000 after buying an additional 100,145 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Belden by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 960,974 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $112,580,000 after buying an additional 5,727 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 68,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Belden by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 182,973 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $21,432,000 after buying an additional 23,936 shares in the last quarter. 98.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Belden Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of BDC opened at $110.11 on Monday. Belden Inc. has a 1-year low of $80.90 and a 1-year high of $131.82. The company has a 50-day moving average of $114.79 and a 200 day moving average of $114.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.89 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Belden Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.18%. Belden’s payout ratio is 4.16%.

Insider Activity at Belden

In other Belden news, SVP Leah Tate sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.77, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 9.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jonathan C. Klein sold 2,129 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $234,190.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,968 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,480. This trade represents a 17.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,228 shares of company stock worth $2,147,892 in the last 90 days. 1.59% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BDC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Belden from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Belden in a report on Monday, February 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.25.

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.