Belden (NYSE:BDC) Cut to Buy at StockNews.com

Belden (NYSE:BDC) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on BDC. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Belden in a report on Monday, February 10th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.25.

Belden Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BDC traded down $4.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $88.99. 503,960 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 269,878. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $107.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $114.65. The stock has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.50 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 has a one year low of $80.90 and a one year high of $131.82.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last issued its 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 return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 8.06%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Belden will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Belden

In related news, CEO Ashish Chand sold 14,535 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.45, for a total transaction of $1,619,925.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,129 shares in the company, valued at $11,939,527.05. This represents a 11.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Leah Tate sold 2,400 shares of Belden 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 23,428 shares of company stock valued at $2,589,774. 1.59% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC increased its stake in Belden by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,710,224 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $530,418,000 after purchasing an additional 223,887 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position 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 buying an additional 100,145 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Belden by 0.6% during 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 during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in Belden by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 711,784 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $80,154,000 after acquiring an additional 3,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Belden by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 695,396 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $78,309,000 after acquiring an additional 18,825 shares during the period. 98.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.