New York State Common Retirement Fund Boosts Stock Holdings in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) by 22.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 255,593 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 47,532 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Belden were worth $19,745,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BDC. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Belden by 31.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,079 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Belden by 15.1% in the third 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. boosted its holdings in Belden by 181.2% in the third quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. now owns 2,188 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 1,410 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in Belden in the third quarter worth approximately $213,000. Finally, GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. purchased a new stake in Belden in the third quarter worth approximately $225,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Belden Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Belden stock opened at $83.40 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 14.74 and a beta of 1.04. Belden Inc. has a 1-year low of $60.54 and a 1-year high of $99.13. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The industrial products company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $551.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $522.06 million. Belden had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 25.11%. The company’s revenue was down 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.75 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Belden Inc. will post 5.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BDC shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Belden from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Belden from $89.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Belden presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Brian Lieser sold 2,056 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.30, for a total transaction of $169,208.80. Following the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

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.