Davis R M Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Nordson Corporation $NDSN

Davis R M Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Nordson Corporation (NASDAQ:NDSN) by 47.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,141 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 22,695 shares during the period. Davis R M Inc.’s holdings in Nordson were worth $5,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Nordson by 156.2% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,019,658 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $205,685,000 after purchasing an additional 621,734 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Nordson by 118.5% in the second quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 336,090 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $72,048,000 after purchasing an additional 182,305 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nordson in the first quarter valued at $29,125,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Nordson by 15.9% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,043,703 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $210,536,000 after buying an additional 142,991 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Nordson in the 1st quarter worth about $25,827,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Nordson

In other news, EVP Joseph P. Kelley sold 2,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.39, for a total transaction of $534,497.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,999,715.95. This represents a 21.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NDSN shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nordson in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. DA Davidson set a $285.00 price target on shares of Nordson in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Nordson from $245.00 to $252.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of Nordson in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Nordson from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nordson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $255.75.

Nordson Stock Up 0.9%

NDSN stock opened at $232.61 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $229.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $217.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.22, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.98. Nordson Corporation has a one year low of $165.03 and a one year high of $266.86.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 8th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $646.86 million for the quarter. Nordson had a return on equity of 19.45% and a net margin of 16.34%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Nordson Corporation will post 10.2 EPS for the current year.

Nordson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 11th were issued a $0.82 dividend. This is a positive change from Nordson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 11th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Nordson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.21%.

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.