Norges Bank Invests $54.17 Million in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 481,017 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,167,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Belden by 49.9% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in Belden by 31.3% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 835 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in Belden by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Belden by 72.3% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,427 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Matrix Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Belden by 624.8% in the fourth quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 1,522 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,312 shares during the period. 98.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BDC has been the subject of several research reports. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Belden in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Belden from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price target on Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ashish Chand sold 14,535 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.45, for a total value of $1,619,925.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 107,129 shares in the company, valued at $11,939,527.05. This trade represents a 11.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Leah Tate sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.77, for a total transaction of $275,448.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,243 shares in the company, valued at $2,667,599.11. This represents a 9.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,428 shares of company stock worth $2,589,774. Corporate insiders own 1.59% of the company’s stock.

Belden Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BDC opened at $88.99 on Friday. Belden Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.90 and a fifty-two week high of $131.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $107.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.65. The company has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50 and a beta of 1.07.

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 return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 8.06%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Belden Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Belden’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.