Vestcor Inc Cuts Holdings in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

Vestcor Inc decreased its position in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) by 33.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,015 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,493 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Belden were worth $340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Belden by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 80,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,031,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its stake in Belden by 169.6% in the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 146,317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,477,000 after purchasing an additional 92,037 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Belden by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 11,261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,975 shares during the last quarter. Haven Private LLC bought a new stake in shares of Belden during the 4th quarter worth $559,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Belden in the 4th quarter worth about $1,553,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BDC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Belden in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Belden from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $130.25.

Belden Stock Performance

NYSE BDC opened at $103.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.41 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $112.38 and its 200-day moving average is $114.85. Belden Inc. has a 12-month low of $80.90 and a 12-month high of $131.82.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.92 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Belden Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Belden Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jonathan C. Klein sold 2,129 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $234,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,968 shares in the company, valued at $1,096,480. The trade was a 17.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ashish Chand sold 14,535 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.45, for a total value of $1,619,925.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,129 shares in the company, valued at $11,939,527.05. This trade represents a 11.95 % 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 ninety days. Company insiders own 1.59% of the company’s stock.

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.