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

Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) by 43.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 230,170 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 69,365 shares during the period. Boston Partners owned about 0.57% of Belden worth $26,387,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of Belden by 157.5% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 32,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,801,000 after acquiring an additional 19,849 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted 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 worth $112,580,000 after buying an additional 5,727 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Belden by 32.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 12,759 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,494,000 after buying an additional 3,120 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Belden by 189.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 80,132 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,386,000 after buying an additional 52,439 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Belden by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 182,973 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $21,432,000 after buying an additional 23,936 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Belden Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of BDC stock opened at $106.58 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $111.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.77. 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 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 52 week low of $80.90 and a 52 week high of $131.82.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts predict that Belden Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Belden Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Belden’s dividend payout ratio is 4.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ashish Chand sold 14,535 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.45, for a total value of $1,619,925.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,939,527.05. This represents a 11.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Leah Tate sold 2,400 shares of the company’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 transaction, 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. Insiders have sold 23,428 shares of company stock valued at $2,589,774 in the last ninety days. 1.59% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.