Prudential Financial Inc. Purchases 33,137 Shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its position in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) by 34.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 128,763 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,137 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.32% of Belden worth $14,500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BDC. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Belden by 14.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,486,337 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $525,485,000 after purchasing an additional 576,768 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Belden by 6.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 100,145 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Belden by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 960,974 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $112,580,000 after acquiring an additional 5,727 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Belden by 10.6% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 708,092 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $82,939,000 after acquiring an additional 68,151 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Belden by 43.1% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 98.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Belden

In other Belden news, SVP Leah Tate sold 2,400 shares of Belden stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.77, for a total transaction of $275,448.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,667,599.11. This trade represents a 9.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ashish Chand sold 14,535 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,939,527.05. The trade was a 11.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,428 shares of company stock valued at $2,589,774 over the last 90 days. 1.59% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Belden Price Performance

NYSE:BDC opened at $104.39 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $110.57 and a 200 day moving average of $114.76. Belden Inc. has a 52-week low of $80.90 and a 52-week high of $131.82.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 8.06%. On average, research analysts expect that Belden Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.19%. Belden’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Belden in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Belden from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.25.

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.