New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 18,000 Shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its holdings in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) by 14.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 110,174 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 18,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Nordson were worth $28,935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Nordson by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,122,129 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,680,769,000 after buying an additional 52,443 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its position in Nordson by 2.7% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,591,323 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $601,032,000 after acquiring an additional 68,810 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Nordson by 10.4% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 942,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $258,764,000 after acquiring an additional 88,966 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Nordson by 2.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 601,984 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $139,624,000 after purchasing an additional 15,947 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Nordson by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 490,167 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $113,689,000 after purchasing an additional 11,809 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Nordson from $272.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nordson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $299.00.

Insider Transactions at Nordson

In other news, EVP Joseph P. Kelley sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.98, for a total value of $749,940.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,164,576.82. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

Nordson Price Performance

NDSN stock opened at $249.03 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Nordson Co. has a 12 month low of $213.04 and a 12 month high of $279.38. The stock has a market cap of $14.24 billion, a PE ratio of 30.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $253.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $247.06.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The industrial products company reported $2.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.08. Nordson had a return on equity of 19.80% and a net margin of 17.75%. The business had revenue of $661.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $656.49 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nordson Co. will post 9.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Nordson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were paid a $0.78 dividend. This is a positive change from Nordson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 27th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. Nordson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.00%.

Nordson Company 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.