Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its holdings in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,029 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 212 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Nordson were worth $634,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Nordson by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 7,384 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,939,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Nordson in the third quarter valued at about $371,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nordson by 10.4% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 12,184 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,146 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Nordson during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,424,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Nordson by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $671,000 after buying an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. 72.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Nordson from $295.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Baird R W lowered Nordson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. KeyCorp raised shares of Nordson from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $260.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Loop Capital raised shares of Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $237.00 price objective (down previously from $294.00) on shares of Nordson in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $256.20.

Nordson Price Performance

Nordson stock opened at $207.58 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $11.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.41, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $213.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.31. Nordson Co. has a 12-month low of $196.83 and a 12-month high of $279.38.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The industrial products company reported $2.06 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.08 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $615.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $639.40 million. Nordson had a net margin of 16.93% and a return on equity of 19.28%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Nordson Co. will post 10.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Nordson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. Nordson’s payout ratio is 39.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nordson

In other news, EVP Stephen Lovass sold 1,299 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.79, for a total value of $268,620.21. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,519,286.13. The trade was a 15.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Nordson Profile

Nordson Corporation engineers, manufactures, and markets products and systems to dispense, apply, and control adhesives, coatings, polymers, sealants, biomaterials, and other fluids worldwide. It operates through three segments: Industrial Precision Solutions; Medical and Fluid Solutions; and Advanced Technology Solutions.