Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 307 Shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 107,967 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 307 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.27% of Belden worth $12,158,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Belden during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Belden by 97.7% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 423 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Belden by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $135,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Belden by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $148,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Belden by 72.3% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,427 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $167,000 after acquiring an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. 98.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Belden in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Belden from $124.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Belden from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Belden presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Leah Tate sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 23,243 shares in the company, valued at $2,667,599.11. This represents a 9.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jonathan C. Klein sold 2,129 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $234,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,968 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,096,480. The trade was a 17.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,228 shares of company stock valued at $2,147,892. Company insiders own 1.59% of the company’s stock.

Belden Price Performance

BDC opened at $107.06 on Friday. Belden Inc. has a 1 year low of $80.90 and a 1 year high of $131.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $114.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.65. The company has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.26 and a beta of 1.08.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The industrial products company reported $1.92 earnings per share (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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Belden Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Belden Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.19%. Belden’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.16%.

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.