Atria Investments Inc Reduces Holdings in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

Atria Investments Inc reduced its holdings in shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) by 19.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,677 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,129 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Nordson were worth $2,653,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Nordson by 7.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,638,375 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $692,916,000 after acquiring an additional 177,282 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Nordson by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,443,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $377,919,000 after buying an additional 14,780 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Nordson by 10.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 514,557 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $135,138,000 after buying an additional 48,720 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Nordson by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 510,239 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $106,762,000 after buying an additional 28,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nordson by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 459,710 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $96,190,000 after buying an additional 7,355 shares during the last quarter. 72.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NDSN. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Nordson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $219.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $237.00 price objective (down previously from $294.00) on shares of Nordson in a report on Friday, December 13th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Nordson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Nordson from $295.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Four research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $256.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Stephen Lovass sold 1,299 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.79, for a total value of $268,620.21. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,519,286.13. This represents a 15.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Nordson Stock Performance

Nordson stock opened at $215.31 on Friday. Nordson Co. has a 12 month low of $196.83 and a 12 month high of $279.38. The company has a market cap of $12.25 billion, a PE ratio of 27.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $213.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $237.05.

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

Nordson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Nordson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.69%.

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.