MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 639 Shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

MetLife Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 43,615 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 639 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Belden were worth $5,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Belden by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 15,217 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,782,000 after buying an additional 2,623 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Belden by 14.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,486,337 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $525,485,000 after acquiring an additional 576,768 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Belden by 32.4% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 12,759 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after acquiring an additional 3,120 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Belden by 157.5% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 32,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,801,000 after purchasing an additional 19,849 shares during the period. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new position in Belden during the 3rd quarter valued at $11,814,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Belden

In other Belden news, CAO Doug Zink sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.82, for a total transaction of $386,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $855,751.26. This trade represents a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.59% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Belden Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:BDC opened at $122.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $119.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.01. The company has a market capitalization of $4.94 billion, a PE ratio of 28.47 and a beta of 1.07. Belden Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.64 and a 1-year high of $131.82.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.70 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $654.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $643.63 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Belden Inc. will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 12th. Belden’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BDC. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Belden from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Belden from $124.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $122.75.

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.