BNP Paribas Financial Markets Acquires 2,623 Shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) by 20.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,217 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,623 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Belden were worth $1,782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC increased its position in 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 in the last quarter. F M Investments LLC bought a new position in Belden in the 2nd quarter worth about $12,659,000. Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Belden during the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,814,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Belden during the 3rd quarter valued at about $82,320,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its holdings in Belden by 60.7% in the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 167,430 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,705,000 after buying an additional 63,216 shares during the last quarter. 98.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on BDC. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of Belden from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial increased their target price on Belden from $124.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.75.

Belden Stock Performance

Shares of BDC stock opened at $122.39 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $120.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $106.09. Belden Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.33 and a 52 week high of $131.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.94 billion, a PE ratio of 28.46 and a beta of 1.08.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $654.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.63 million. Belden had a net margin of 7.61% and a return on equity of 20.55%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Belden Inc. will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Belden Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.16%. Belden’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.65%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Doug Zink sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.82, for a total transaction of $386,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $855,751.26. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.59% of the company’s stock.

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.