Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Makes New Investment in Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Belden Inc. (NYSE:BDC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,123 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BDC. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Belden by 189.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 80,132 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,386,000 after purchasing an additional 52,439 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Belden by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 34,018 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,831,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Belden by 29.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,197 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Belden by 1,796.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 23,912 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,693,000 after purchasing an additional 22,651 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Belden by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,973 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $785,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Belden Stock Performance

Shares of Belden stock opened at $112.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a PE ratio of 23.38 and a beta of 1.24. Belden Inc. has a 12 month low of $83.18 and a 12 month high of $131.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $111.03.

Belden (NYSE:BDC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $624.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $615.81 million. Belden had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 8.06%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Belden Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current year.

Belden Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Belden

In other Belden news, SVP Leah Tate sold 231 shares of Belden stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $26,250.84. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 30,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,428,518.80. This trade represents a 0.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ashish Chand sold 14,535 shares of Belden stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.45, for a total value of $1,619,925.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,129 shares in the company, valued at $11,939,527.05. This represents a 11.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,259 shares of company stock valued at $2,340,577 in the last 90 days. 1.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.