Swiss National Bank Cuts Stock Position in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

Swiss National Bank cut its holdings in shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 153,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 8,000 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Nordson were worth $32,118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NDSN. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Nordson by 7.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,638,375 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $692,916,000 after purchasing an additional 177,282 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 valued at $377,919,000 after buying an additional 14,780 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Nordson by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 514,557 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $135,138,000 after buying an additional 48,720 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Nordson by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 510,239 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $106,762,000 after acquiring an additional 28,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Nordson by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 459,710 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $96,190,000 after acquiring an additional 7,355 shares during the period. 72.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on NDSN shares. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Nordson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $219.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $237.00 target price (down previously from $294.00) on shares of Nordson in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Baird R W cut Nordson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Nordson from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $256.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nordson

In related news, EVP Stephen Lovass sold 1,299 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.79, for a total transaction of $268,620.21. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,519,286.13. This trade represents a 15.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Nordson Price Performance

Nordson stock opened at $210.68 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $213.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $234.90. Nordson Co. has a 52 week low of $196.83 and a 52 week high of $279.38. The stock has a market cap of $11.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

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

Nordson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. Nordson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.69%.

About Nordson

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.