Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 12,590 Shares of Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Nordson Co. (NASDAQ:NDSN) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,455,956 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,590 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Nordson were worth $303,918,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NDSN. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Nordson by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 7,314 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,530,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Nordson by 26.1% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nordson by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 3,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $692,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Nordson by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $884,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Nordson by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,493 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Nordson

In other Nordson news, EVP Stephen Lovass sold 1,299 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. BNP Paribas lowered Nordson from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $219.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Robert W. Baird reissued 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. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Nordson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. 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 research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Nordson from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Nordson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $256.20.

Nordson Trading Down 5.2 %

NASDAQ:NDSN opened at $176.73 on Friday. Nordson Co. has a 12 month low of $173.36 and a 12 month high of $279.38. 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 capitalization of $10.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.48, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $210.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $230.22.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last issued its 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $639.40 million. Nordson had a net margin of 16.93% and a return on equity of 19.28%. Analysts expect that Nordson Co. will post 10.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nordson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. Nordson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.