Belden (NYSE:BDC) Sees Large Volume Increase – What’s Next?

Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday . 247,432 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 3% from the previous session’s volume of 254,546 shares.The stock last traded at $104.01 and had previously closed at $106.53.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on BDC. StockNews.com raised Belden from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Belden in a report 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.25.

Belden Stock Down 0.8 %

The stock has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19 and a beta of 1.02. 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 fifty day moving average of $111.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $114.65.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last issued its earnings results 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, analysts predict that Belden Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Belden news, CEO Ashish Chand sold 14,535 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 107,129 shares in the company, valued at $11,939,527.05. The trade was a 11.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregory James Mccray sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.21, for a total value of $441,882.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,776.79. This represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,428 shares of company stock worth $2,589,774 over the last quarter. 1.59% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Belden

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Belden during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Belden in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Belden by 208.7% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 392 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Belden by 97.7% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Belden in the fourth quarter valued at about $61,000. 98.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.