Boston Partners Acquires 69,365 Shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) by 43.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 230,170 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 69,365 shares during the period. Boston Partners’ holdings in Belden were worth $26,387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Belden by 157.5% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 32,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,801,000 after purchasing an additional 19,849 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Belden by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 960,974 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $112,580,000 after purchasing an additional 5,727 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Belden by 32.4% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 12,759 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Belden by 189.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 80,132 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,386,000 after purchasing an additional 52,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Belden by 15.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 182,973 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $21,432,000 after purchasing an additional 23,936 shares in the last quarter. 98.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Belden Trading Up 2.8 %

NYSE BDC opened at $106.58 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $111.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $114.77. The stock has a market cap of $4.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.16 and a beta of 1.02. Belden Inc. has a 12-month low of $80.90 and a 12-month high of $131.82. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.92 earnings per share (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, analysts forecast that Belden Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Belden Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Belden’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Leah Tate sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 23,243 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregory James Mccray sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.21, for a total transaction of $441,882.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $441,776.79. This trade represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 23,428 shares of company stock valued at $2,589,774. Insiders own 1.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BDC shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Belden from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Belden in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their target price 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Belden presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.25.

Belden 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.