Raymond James & Associates Cuts Stock Position in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

Raymond James & Associates trimmed its stake in shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) by 69.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 16,287 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Belden were worth $555,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Belden by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,589 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. raised its stake in Belden by 181.2% in the 3rd quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. now owns 2,188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 1,410 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Belden in the third quarter worth about $213,000. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. purchased a new position in Belden in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $225,000. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new position in Belden during the third quarter worth approximately $264,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Belden from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. StockNews.com cut Belden from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.25.

Insider Activity at Belden

In related news, EVP Brian Lieser sold 2,056 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.30, for a total transaction of $169,208.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,772 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,791,835.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Belden Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of BDC stock opened at $82.89 on Friday. Belden Inc. has a 1-year low of $60.54 and a 1-year high of $99.13. The firm has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50-day moving average of $86.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 2.30 and a quick ratio of 1.72.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The industrial products company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.34. Belden had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 25.11%. The firm had revenue of $551.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $522.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.75 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Belden Inc. will post 5.33 EPS for the current year.

Belden Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.24%. Belden’s payout ratio is presently 3.53%.

Belden Company 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.