Magnetar Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,282 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $370,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Belden by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,486,337 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $525,485,000 after buying an additional 576,768 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Belden by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,574,784 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $184,532,000 after purchasing an additional 100,145 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Belden by 0.6% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 68,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in Belden by 43.1% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 230,170 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $26,387,000 after purchasing an additional 69,365 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on BDC shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Belden from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Loop Capital dropped 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. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Belden in a report on Monday, February 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.25.

Insider Activity at Belden

In related news, Director Gregory James Mccray sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,199 shares in the company, valued at $441,776.79. The trade was a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Leah Tate sold 2,400 shares of the business’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 value of $275,448.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,667,599.11. The trade was a 9.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,428 shares of company stock valued at $2,589,774 over the last quarter. 1.59% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Belden Stock Performance

NYSE:BDC opened at $101.91 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $111.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $114.74. The company has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Belden Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.90 and a 52 week high of $131.82.

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 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Belden Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Belden’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.16%.

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.