Nomura Holdings Inc. Makes New $602,000 Investment in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 5,342 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $602,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Belden during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Belden by 208.7% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 392 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Belden by 49.9% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Belden by 31.3% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 835 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. 98.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Belden Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:BDC opened at $111.40 on Wednesday. Belden Inc. has a 52 week low of $83.18 and a 52 week high of $131.82. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $101.23 and a 200 day moving average of $110.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.16 and a beta of 1.24.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.12. Belden had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.42%. The company had revenue of $624.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $615.81 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. Belden’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Belden Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Belden Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.18%. Belden’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jonathan C. Klein sold 2,129 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $234,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,096,480. This trade represents a 17.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Leah Tate sold 231 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $26,250.84. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,428,518.80. This trade represents a 0.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 21,259 shares of company stock valued at $2,340,577. Insiders own 1.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BDC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Belden from $139.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Belden from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Belden from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Belden in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $126.20.

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.