Natural Investments LLC Makes New Investment in Nordson Corporation (NASDAQ:NDSN)

Natural Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Nordson Corporation (NASDAQ:NDSN) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $305,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NDSN. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Nordson by 156.2% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,019,658 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $205,685,000 after purchasing an additional 621,734 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Nordson by 676.5% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 246,317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $51,539,000 after purchasing an additional 214,594 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Nordson by 19,089.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 141,809 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,606,000 after buying an additional 141,070 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Nordson by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 693,627 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $145,135,000 after buying an additional 111,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Nordson by 21.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 508,066 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $106,308,000 after acquiring an additional 91,097 shares during the period. 72.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Nordson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Nordson from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Nordson in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Nordson from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Vertical Research assumed coverage on shares of Nordson in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $245.00 price objective on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Nordson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $254.86.

Nordson Stock Down 1.3%

Nordson stock opened at $211.13 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $11.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $216.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $207.02. Nordson Corporation has a twelve month low of $165.03 and a twelve month high of $266.86.

Nordson (NASDAQ:NDSN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The industrial products company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.06. Nordson had a return on equity of 19.10% and a net margin of 16.51%. The company had revenue of $682.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $671.36 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.34 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Nordson Corporation will post 10.2 EPS for the current year.

Nordson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 19th were issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 18th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Nordson’s payout ratio is presently 40.10%.

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.