KBC Group NV Buys 22,651 Shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) by 1,796.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,912 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,651 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Belden were worth $2,693,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BDC. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Belden by 72.2% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 279 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Belden by 4.5% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,465 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $406,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Belden by 7.4% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,794 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Belden by 97.7% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Matrix Trust Co bought a new position in Belden in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Belden Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:BDC opened at $116.36 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $118.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $112.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.06 and a beta of 1.09. Belden Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.91 and a 52-week high of $131.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 2.07.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.09. Belden had a net margin of 7.61% and a return on equity of 20.55%. The company had revenue of $654.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.63 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Belden Inc. will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Belden Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 12th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 12th. Belden’s payout ratio is 4.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BDC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Belden from $124.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Belden in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Belden from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.75.

Insider Transactions at Belden

In related news, CAO Doug Zink sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.82, for a total value of $386,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $855,751.26. This represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.59% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.