MetLife Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

MetLife Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,615 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 639 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned about 0.11% of Belden worth $5,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BDC. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Belden by 14.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Belden by 15.8% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 313,063 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,365,000 after purchasing an additional 42,600 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in Belden by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 249,573 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $23,410,000 after purchasing an additional 5,209 shares in the last quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC boosted its stake in Belden by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC now owns 214,322 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,103,000 after purchasing an additional 4,636 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its holdings in Belden by 60.7% during the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 167,430 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,705,000 after buying an additional 63,216 shares in the last quarter. 98.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Belden Stock Performance

Shares of BDC opened at $122.40 on Friday. Belden Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.64 and a 12-month high of $131.82. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $4.94 billion, a PE ratio of 28.47 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $119.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.01.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $654.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $643.63 million. Belden had a net margin of 7.61% and a return on equity of 20.55%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Belden Inc. will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Belden Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BDC shares. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Belden from $124.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark raised their price target on shares of Belden from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.75.

Insider Transactions at Belden

In other news, CAO Doug Zink sold 3,000 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $855,751.26. The trade was a 31.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.59% 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.