F M Investments LLC Sells 88,391 Shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

F M Investments LLC lessened its holdings in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) by 64.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 49,642 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 88,391 shares during the quarter. F M Investments LLC’s holdings in Belden were worth $5,590,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Belden during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Belden by 49.9% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Belden by 31.3% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 835 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Belden by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in Belden by 72.3% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,427 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 599 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Belden news, Director Gregory James Mccray sold 4,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.21, for a total value of $441,882.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $441,776.79. The trade was a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Leah Tate sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.77, for a total transaction of $275,448.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 23,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,667,599.11. This represents a 9.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,428 shares of company stock valued at $2,589,774 in the last three months. 1.59% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BDC has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Belden from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of 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 issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Belden in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $130.25.

Belden Price Performance

NYSE:BDC opened at $98.28 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.43 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Belden Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.90 and a 52 week high of $131.82. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $105.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $114.02.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts expect that Belden Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current year.

Belden Announces Dividend

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

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.