Vestcor Inc Sells 1,493 Shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

Vestcor Inc lessened its holdings in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) by 33.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,015 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,493 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Belden were worth $340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Belden by 9.5% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 6,340 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $743,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Belden during the 3rd quarter worth about $687,000. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Belden by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $148,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Belden by 1.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 39,239 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,596,000 after buying an additional 741 shares during the period. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Belden during the third quarter worth about $33,000. 98.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on BDC shares. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Belden in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Belden from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Belden presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $130.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Leah Tate sold 2,400 shares of Belden 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregory James Mccray sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.21, for a total transaction of $441,882.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $441,776.79. The trade was a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,428 shares of company stock valued at $2,589,774. 1.59% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Belden Price Performance

Shares of BDC opened at $103.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a PE ratio of 21.41 and a beta of 1.02. Belden Inc. has a 52-week low of $80.90 and a 52-week high of $131.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.92. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $112.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.85.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last posted 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Belden Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current year.

Belden Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. 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.